
Qass. 
Book. 



Ip/SSU 



.2 



.CL^e-ju 



fflim®imi 



PEITATE AND PTJBLIC LIFE 



DP 



WILLIAM PENN; 



Who settled 



¥HE STATE OF PENNSYZ.VANIA; 



AND ruUiVDEI? 



THE CITir OF PHII.ADEI.FHIA. 



BY THOMAS CLARKSON, M. A. 



TWO VOLUMES IN ONE. 



VOX.. X. 



DOVER, If. H. 

SAMUEL C. STEVENS, WASHINGTON-STREET 
1897. 



V 






To 

the right honourable 

HENRY RICHARD, LORD HOLLAND, 

Baron of Holland in Lincolnshire, 

and 

of Foxley in Wilts, 

these 

MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN, 

the first Statesman, 

who, banishing political expediency, 

founded his public conduct 

solely on the principles of justice, 

by which he furnished a model of government 

capable of producing to his own people 

a superior degree of morality and tiappiness, 

nd ensuring to foreigners connected with the same^ 

peace, security, moral improvement, and 

the rights of men, 

are inscribed 

entirely out of respect 

to his lordship's own political conduct, 

once as in the administration of the kingdom, 

and now as a peer of parliament, 

whereby he has shown himself 

a vindicator uf the rights of injured Africa, 

a friend to peace and constitutional reform, 

a patron of civil and religious liberty, 

in all which the great William Pekv 

was an eminent forerunner, 

by his friend 

THOMAS CLARKSON, 



PREFACE TO THE READER, 



There are two principles, by which men usually regulate 
their conduct, whether in private or in public life. The one is 
built upon political expediency ; the other upon morality and 
religion. 

That, which is built upon the basis of policy, looks almost 
wholly at the consequences of things, regarding but little wheth- 
er they be in themselves honest or not. It springs out of the 
worst part of the nature of man. It has no pretension to any 
other name than that of Cunning It is of all others the most 
pernicious in its effects. It leads to oppression at home, to wars 
abroad, and to every moral evil, of which mankind has had to 
complain ; and it is in general, besides, as far as the actor him- 
self is concerned, productive of disgrace and ruin. 

That, which is founded on the basis of religion, is on the other 
hand never concerned with consequences but in a secondary 
point of view, regarding solely whether that which is in contem- 
plation be just. Its motto is " Fiat Justitia, ruat Ccelum." It 
has its origin in the mind of man, but only where it lias been 
first illuminated from above. Its name is Wisdom. No other 
species of action has a title to that sublime appellation. It is 
the only one whose effects are blessed. It removes all evils. 
It promotes all good. It is solid and permanent. It lasts forever. 

I have now to observe, that it is under the influence of this 
latter principle that we are to see the conduct of William Penn, 
but more particularly as a public man, in the sheets which fol- 
low; or, in other words, we are to have a view of him as a States- 
man, who acted upon a Christian principle in direct opposition 
to the usual policy of the world. Such a view of him must be 
highly gratifying. It must be also highly useful. Suffice it then 
to say, that the desire I had to contemplate it myself, and to 
exhibit it to others, furnished the principal motive for the pres- 
ent work. 



LIST 



07 



THE AUTHORITIES 



FOn THE 



FOLLOWING WORK. 



Life of William Penn, prefixed to the collection of his Works, 
in 2 vols, folio. 

The Select Works of William Penn, incluHinghis Life, in 5 vols, 
octavo. 

William Penn's Rules for the Regulation of his Family ; or Chris- 
tian Discipline, or good and wholesome Orders for the well 
governing of the same. 

History of the People called Quakers, hv William Sewel. 

Gough's History of the People called Quakers. 

General History of the Q lakers, hy (ierard Croese. 

Besse's Defence of Quakerism, in Answer to Patrick Smith. 

Besse's Confutation of the Charge of Deism. 

Life of Gilbert Latcy. 

Account of the Life of Richard Davies. 

James Dickinson's Journal. 

John Whiting's Memoirs. 

Brief Account of the Life of Roger Haydock. 

Life of Oliver Sansom. 

Life of Jolin Taylor (of York). 

The history of the Life of Thomas Elwood. 

Account of the I>ife of John Richardson. 

Journal of the T..ife and Travels of George Fox. 

A Collection of the Works, and Journal of the Life and Travels of 
Thomas Cbalkley. 

Account of the Life and Travels in the ministry of John Fothergill, 

Journal of the Life of Thomas Story. 

Anderson's Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin 
of Cctmmerce 

Cayle's Dictionary. 



VIU LIST OF AUTHORITIESo 

Wood's Anthonee Oxoniensis. 

British Empire in America, by Oldmixon. 

Burnet's History of his own Times. 

Negotiations of Count D'Avaux, Ambassador from Louis the 
XlVth to the States General of tlie United Provinces. 

Picart's Relisfious Customs and Ceremonies of all Nations, trans- 
lated fiom the French. 

History of the Old and New Testament, translated from the 
works of the learned Le Sieur de Royaumont, by Joseph Ray- 
nor, and supervised by Dr. Anthony Horneck, Henry Whar- 
ton, B. D. and others. 

Collins' Memoirs of the Sidneys, prefixed to the Sidney State 
Papers. 

Douglass' Summary. 

Ward's Life of Dr. Henry Moore. 

Life of John Locke, by John Le Clerc. 

Salmon's Chronological Historian. 

Macpherson's History of Great Britain, including Original State 
Papers. 

Dialogues of the Dead, by George Lord Lyttleton. 

Dr. Jonathan Swift's Letters, collected by Deane Swift, Esq. 

Noble's continuation of Granger. 

Sutcliff'd Travels iu North America. 

Monthly Magazine. 

Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle. 

European Magazine and London Review. 

Manuscript Letters of William Penn. 

Authenticated copies of the same. 

Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of Penn- 
sylvania, beginning Dec. 4, 1682 (an American publication). 

The History of Pennsylvania, by Robert Proud (an American pub- 
lication). 

Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Penn- 
sylvania from its Origin (ditto). 

Inquiry into the Causes of the Alienation of the Delaware and 
Shawanese Indians from the British Interest (ditto). 

American Geography, by Jedediah Morse (ditto). 

Picture of Philadelphia (ditto). 

American Musfeum (ditto). 

Et csetera. &c. &c. &c. 



MEMOIRS 



OF 



THE LIFE 



OF 



WILLIAM PENNc. 



CHAPTER I. 

William Fenn—4iis origin or lineal descent-^as collected frotn 
published accounts. 

William PexVji was descended from an ancient family, respect- 
able both in point of character and independence as early as the 
first public records notice it. The following is & concise account 
of his origin : 

Among his early ancestors were those of the same name, who 
were living, between four and five centuries ago, at the village of 
Penn, in Buckinghamshire. Further traces of this family arc to 
be found in Fenlands, Pen-street, Pen-house, Fenwood, all of them 
tlic names of places iu the same county. 

From the Penns of Penn iu Buckinghamshire, came the Penns 
of Penn's Lodge, near Myntie on the edge of Bradon Forest, in 
tlie north-west part of the county of Wilts, or rather in Glouces- 
tershire, a small part of the latter being enclosed within tlie for- 
mer county. Mere, that is, at Penn's Lodge, we know that two, 
if not more, of the male brandies so descended lived in succession. 
The latter, whose name was William, was buried in Myntie churfh. 
A flat grave-stone, which perpetuates this event, is still remaining. 
It stands in the passage between two pews in the chancel. It 
states, however, only, that he died on the twelfth of March, 1591. 

From William just mentioned came Giles Penn. Giles, it is 
known, was a captain in the royal navy. He held also for some 
time the office of English consul in the Mediterranean. Having in- 
termarried with the family of the Gilberts, who came originally 
from Yorkshire, but who then lived in the county of Somerset, he 
had issue a son, whom he called 'William. 

The last mentioned William, following the profession of bis 
fjatlier, became a distinguished naval officero He was born in the 
B 



10 WEMeiRS 0? THE LIFE 

year 1621, and commanded at a very early age the fleet which 
Oliver Cromwell sent against Hispaniola. This expedition, though 
it failed, brouu;ht no discredit upon him, for Colonel Venables was 
the cause of its miscarriage. It W3S considered, on the other 
hand, as far as Admiral Penn was concerned, that he conducted it 
with equal wisdom and courage. After the restoration of Charles 
the Second, he was commander under the Duke of York in that 
great and terrible sea-right against the Dutch, under Admiral Op- 
dam, in the year 1 665, wheie he contributed so much to the victory, 
that he was knighted. He was ever afterwards received with all 
the marks of private friendship at court. Though be was thus en- 
gaged both under the Parliament and the King, he took no part in 
the civil war. but adhered to the duties of his profession, which, 
by keeping him at a distance from the scene of civil commotion, 
enabled him to serve bis country witliout attaching himself to either 
of the interests of the day. Besides tlic reputation of a great ami 
patriot officer, be acquired that of having improved the naval ser- 
vice in several important departments. He was the author of sev- 
eral little tracts on this subject, some of which arc preserved in the 
British Museum. From the monument erected to his memory by 
his wife, and which is to l>e seen in Radcliffe church in the cih' of 
Bristol, we may learn something of his life, death, and character. 
*' He was made captain (as this monument records) at the years 
of twenty-one, rear admiral of Ireland at twenty -three, vice admi- 
ral of Ireland at twenty-five, admiral to the Streights at twenty- 
nine, vice admiral of England at thirty -one, and general in the 
first Dutch war at thirty-two ; whence returning anno 1655, he 
was parliament-man for the town of Weymoutl) ; 1660 made com 
missioner of the admiralty and navy, governor of the tov.n and 
fort of Kingsale, vice admiral of Munster, and a member of that 
provincial council ; and anno 1664 was chosen great captain com- 
mander under his royal highness in that signal and most evidently 
successful fight against the Dutch fleet. Thus he took leave of the 
sea, his old element, but continued still his other employs till 
1669: at that time, through bodily infirmities contracted by the 
care and fatigue of public afiairs, be withdrew, prepared* and made 
for his end ; and with a gentle and even gale, in much peace ar-. 
rived and anchored at his last and best port, at Wanstead in the 
county of Essex, tlie l6th of September 1670, being then but for- 
ty-nine years and four months old." These are the words of the 
monument. 

It will be proper now to observe, that Admiral Sir William 
Penn, descended in the manner I have related, married Margaret, 
the daughter of John Jasper, a merchant of Rotterdam in Holland, 
and that he had one son, William, the person whose life is the 
subject of the present work. 



OFT/ILLIAM PENiT. II. 



CHAPTER ir 



Is horn in 1644-"^Y;gs to Clii2:icell School — re.Ii,2;ioiis impressions 
there — goes to Oxford — his verses on the death of the Duke of 
Gloucester — 'is further impressed hj the preaching of Thomas 
j^og — fined fr nonconforniit>f and at length ca-pelled — turned 
out of doors by his father — is sent to France — rencontre at Par- 
is — studies at 'Saiimnr — visits Turin- — is sent for home — becomes 
a student at Llncttln''s Inn. 

William last meptioneil,ancI now tube distingiiislied from Ad- 
tYjiral Sir William i^eiui, was born in London in the parisb of St. 
Catherine on Tower-Hill, on the fourteenth day of October 1644. 

He receired the first rudiments of his education at Chigwell in 
Essex, where there was an excellent free grammar school founded 
only fifteen years bef^tre by Samuel Harsnetl^, archbishop of York. 
Chigwell was particularly con\enient for this purpose,being but at 
a short distance from Wanstead, which was then the country -res- 
idence of his fatlior. As something remarkable is usually said of 
all great men in the earl}' pait of their lives, so it was said of \^ il- 
liani Penn that while heie and alone in bis cliamber, being then 
eleven years old, lie was suddenly surprised with an inward com- 
fort and as he thought an external glory in the room, v/bich gave 
rise to re5iji;i<)us emotions, during which he Iiad the strongest con- 
viction of tlie being of a God, and that the soul of man was capable 
of enjoying communication with him. He believed also that the seal 
of Divinity had been put upon him at this moment, or that he had 
been awakened or called upon to a holy life. But whatever was 
the external occasion, or wlicther any or none, or whatever were 
the particular notions which he is said to have imbibed at tbis pe- 
riod, certain it is, tliat while he was at Chigwell school his mind 
was seriously impressed on the subject of religion. 

Having left Chigwell at twelve years of age, be went to a pri- 
vate school on Tower-Hill, v.hich was near his father's London 
residence. Here he bad greater advantages than before ; for his 
father, to promote bis scholarship, kept fyr him a private tutor in 
his own house. 

At the age of fifteen he bad made such progress in his studies 
that it was tbouglit fit to send him to College. He was according- 
ly entered a gentleman commoner at Christ's Church, Oxford, 
He is said to have paid great attention to his coUege exercises, 
and yet to have allowed himself all reasonable recreation. The 
latter consisted partly of manly sports, in which he t(»ok great de- 
light, and partly of the society of those young men in t!ie univer- 
sity who were distinguislied eitlier by their talents or their worth. 
Among those of promising <i,eniu3 he was intimate witli Robert 
Spencer, afterwards; the well known Earl of Sunderland, and the 
venerable John liocke. 

It happened, Mbile here, that the Duke of Gloiicesfer, the sec- 
ond brother of Charles thf. Second died. H? was taken off sudden- 



12 JtEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

ly by the small-pox in the twenty -first year of his age. The King^ 
who loved him tenderly, appeared to be more concerned for his 
loss than for any misfortune which had ever befallen him. Indeed 
all historians agree in giving this young prince an amiable charac- 
ter, so that there was great sorrow in the nation on account of his 
death. Many belonging to the university of Oxford, partaking of 
it, both students and others, gave to the world the poetic eifusions 
of their condolence on this occasion ; and among these William 
Penn was not behindhand, if we may judge from the follov.ing spe- 
cimen, taken from the Epicedia Academios Oxoniensis in Obitiim 
eelsiesimi Frincipis Ilenrici, IJucis GlocestHensis. 4to. 1660. 

" Publica te, Dux magne, dabant jejunia genti, 

Sed facta est, nato principe. festa dies. 
Te moriente, licet celebraret Iseta triumphos 

Anglia, solennes solvitur in lachrymas. 
Solus ad arbitrium moderaris peetora ; solus 

Tu dolor accedis, delicieeque tuis." 

The foregoing elegy I cannot translate, particularly into metre^ 
so as either to comprehend the full sense of it, or to do justice to 
its merits ; and, unless it appear in a poetic dress, the force of it 
"would be lost. I shall however make an attempt for the benefit of 
those who are English readers only. 

Though 'twas a. fast-day when thou cam'st, thy birth 
Turn'd it at once to one of festive viirth. 
Though England, ct iky deaih^ still made her show 
Oi public joy ^* she pass'd to public woe. 
Thou dost, alone, the public breast control, 
Alone, delight and sorrow to the soul. 

But though William Penn was a youth of a lively genius, as this 
little specimen intimates, and though he indulged himselfat times 
in manly sports and exercises, as has been before mentioned, yet 
he never forgot the religious impressions v/hich he had received at 
Chigwell school. These, on the other hand, had been considerably 
strengthened by the preaching of Thomas Loe. This person, a 
layman, had belonged to the university of Oxford, but had then 
become a Quaker. The doctrines which he promulgated seem to 
have given a new turn to the mind of William Penn, who was in- 
capable of concealing what he thought it a duty to profess. Ac- 
cordingly, on discovering that some of his fellow students enter- 
tained religious sentiments which were in unison with his own, he 
began, in conjunction with them, to withdraw himself from the es- 
tablished worship, and to hold meetings where they followed their 
devotional exercises in their own way. This conduct, which soon 
became known, gave offence to the heads of the college, who in 
consequence fined all of them for nonconformity. This happened 
in the year 1660. 



* On account of the restoration. 



or WIllXAM PENN. 13 

But the imposition of this fine had not the desired effect. It nei- 
ther deterred him nor his associates from their old practices, nor 
from proceeding even further where they thought themselves jus- 
tified in so doing. An opportunity for this presented itself soon 
afterwards ; for an order came down from Charles the Second, 
that the surplice should be worn according to the custom of an- 
cient times. It was an unusual sight then at that university. This 
siglit operated differently upon different persons ; but so disagreea- 
bly upon William Penn,vvho conceived that the simplicity and spir- 
ituality of the Christian religion would be destroyed by the intro- 
duction of outward ceremonies and forms, that he could not bear 
it. Engaging, therefore, his friend Robert Spencer, before men- 
tioned, and some other young gentlemen, to join him, he fell upon 
those students who appeared in surplices, and he and they togeth- 
er tore them every where over their heads. This outrage was of 
so flagrant and public a nature, that the College immediately took 
it up ; and the result was, that William and several of his asso- 
ciates were expelled. 

William Penn, after his expulsion from College, returned home. 
His father is said to have received him coldly Indeed he could 
not he otherwise than displeased Vv^ith his son on account of the 
public disgrace which he had thus incurred : but that which vexed 
nim most was the change now observable in his habits ; for he be- 
^an to abandon what was called the fashionable world, and to mix 
only with serious and religious people. It was this dereliction of 
it which proved the greatest disappointment : for the Admiral was 
fearful tliat all the prospects in life which he had formed for his 
son, and which be could have promoted by his great connections, 
would be done away. Anxious therefore to recover him, he had re- 
course to argument. This failins;. like one accustomed to arbitra- 
ry power, he proceeded to blows 5 and the latter failing also, he 
turned him out of doors. 

The Admiral, after a procedure so violent, began at length to 
relent. He vras himself, though perhaps hasty in his temper, a 
man of an excellent disposition, so that his own good feelings fre- 
quently opposed themselves to his anger on this occasion. His 
wife too, an amiable womai\, lost no opportunity of intercession. 
Overcome therefore by his own affectionate nature on tlie one hand, 
and by her entreaties on the other, he forgave his son. But he was 
desirous of meeting the evil for the future, and he saw no other 
means of doing it than by sending his son to France. He indulged 
a hope that thf change of scene might wean him from his old con- 
nections, and that the gaiety of Fi t-nch manners might correct the 
growing gravity of his mind. Accordingly in 1662 he sent him to 
that country, in company with certain persons of rank who were 
then going upon their travels. 

The place v.here William first resided was Paris. While here, 
but one anecdote concerning him is recorded. It happened that 
he was attacked one evening in the street by a person who drew 
his sword upon him in consequence of a supposed affront. A con- 
flict immediately ensued. William in the course of it disarmed 
his antagonist, but proceeded no further, sparing his life when by 



14 MEMOIRS OP THE LI?F. 

the confession of all those who relate the fact he could have taken it ; 
thus exhibitinj^, says Gerard Croese, a testiRiony not only of his 
courage but of his forbearance. 

It is nowhere said how long he remained at Paris ; but it is prob- 
able that his stay there was very short, and moreover that the 
gaiety and dissipation of that city was far from pleasing him ; for 
we find him afterwards with his companions a resident for some 
months, in the years 1662 and 1663, at Saumur, whither he had 
gone to avail himself of the conversation and instruction of the 
learned Moses Amyrault, who was a Protestant Minister of tiie 
Calvanistic persuasion, professor of divinity at Saumur, and at 
this time in the highest estimation of any divine in France. His 
works, Buch as his Paraphrase on the New Testament and Psalms, 
his Apology for Ills Religion, his Treatise on Free-will, his Exalta- 
tion of Faith and Abasement of Reason, with many others, had 
been thea widely circulated and read. Tiie greatest men in that 
kingdom, both Calvanists and Catholics, honoured him with their 
friendship ; and he was so highly esteemed by the Cardinal Rich- 
lieu, that the latter imparted to him his design of uniting the two 
churches. 

The learned Monsieur du Bosc, on seeing the print of his friend 
Moses when it came out, wrote under it this distich : 

*' A Mose ad Mosem par Mosi non fuit ullus ; 
More, ore, et calamo mirus uterque fuit." 

These lines the English biographer, who has noticed the life of 
Moses Amyrault, has translated thus : 

From Moses down to Moses, none 

Among the sons of men, 
Witli equal lustre ever shone 

In manners, tongue, and pen. 

Under a man so conspicuous William Penn renewed his studies. 
He read the Fathers : he turned over the pages of theology : he 
applied himself to the rudiments of the French language, so as to 
become a proficient in the knowledge of it. His residence here I 
beg the reader to remember, because it will throw light upon a 
circumstance wliich will require developement in the course of the 
present work. 

It appears when he left Saumur that he directed his course 
towards Italy, and that he had reached Turin in his way thither ; 
for, while there, a letter reached him from his father desiring his 
return home. His father had then received notice that he was to 
command the fleet against the Dutch, and wished his son to take 
care of the family in his absence. "VVilliam in consequence re- 
turned. This was in 166*4. During the few opportunities he had 
with his father, h.e is said to have given satisfaction ; for though he 
had not gone hack (as indeed it would seem impossible under 
the care of Moses Amyrault) in liis regard and concern for reiig- 
ioii, he v/asj yet movf lively in his mauiiers thnu before. He h.yr 



OF WILLIAM PENK. 15 

contracted also a sort of polished or courtly (lerneanour, which he 
had insensibly taken from the customs of the people among whom 
he had lately lived. 

It was thought advisable, as he had now returned from the con» 
tinent, that he should know sometliingof the laws of his own coun- 
try ; and accordingly, on the suggestion of his father, he became a 
student of Lincoln's Inn. He remained there for about a year, 
when the great plague making its appearance in London, he quit- 
ted it, with many others, on the reasonable precaution of self- 
preservation. This took place in the year 1665, in which year ha 
became of age. 



■ 4» -;:c- ■ 



CHAPTER IIL 

^. 1666-1667 — is sent to Ireland — attends the court of (Jie DnJce 
" of Ornumd — meets again ivitli Thomas Lo' — impression again 
made by the sermon of the latter — is jmt into gaol for l)eivg at a 
(Quakers'' meeting — writes to Lord Orrery — is discharged from 
prison — is reported to be a (Quaker— -ordered home on that ac- 
count by his father — interesting interview beticeen them — con- 
ditions offered him, by his fattier — is again turned out of doors. 

It is not probable, where men have pursued a path in conformi- 
ty with their belief of divine truths, that any ordinary measures 
taken to divert them from it will be successful. The fire kindled 
in their minds may indeed be smothered for a time, but it will 
eventually break forth. SUch was the state of tlie mind of Wil- 
liam Penn at this period. He liad come from the continent with 
an air of gaiety and the show of polite manners, which the Admi- 
ral had mistaken for agreat cliange in his mind. But now. in 1666, 
all volatile appearances had died aw'ay. The grave and sedate 
habits of his countrymen, the religious controversies then afloat, 
these and other circumstances of a similar tendency had caused 
tlie spark vviuch had appeared in him to revive in its wonted 
strength. He became again a serious person He mixed again 
only with grave and religious people. His father, v/heii he return- 
ed from sea, could not hut notice this change. It was the more 
visible on account of the length of his absence. He saw it with all 
his former feelings ; with the same fear for the consequences, and 
the same determination to oppose it. Not easily to be vanquish- 
ed, he determined a second time to endeavour to break up his son's 
connections ; and to effect this, he sent him to Ireland. 

One reason which induced him to make choice of Ireland for this 
purpose, was his acqi'aintance with the Duke of ()rmond,(who was. 
then Lord Lieutenant of that coimtry), as well as with several 
others who attended his court. The Duke himself was a man of a 
graceful appearance, lively wit, and cheerful temper; and his court 



X6 MEMOIRS OF THE LITE 

had tlie reputation of o;reat gaiety and splendour. The Admiral 
conceived, therefore, if his son were properly introduced among 
his friends there, that he might even yet receive a new bias, and 
acquire a new taste. But tliis scheme of the Admiral did not an- 
swer. Nothin<5 which William saw there could shake his religious 
notions, or his determination to a serious life. Every thing, on 
the other hand, which he saw, tended to confirm them. He con- 
sidered the court, with its pomp and vanity, its parade and cere- 
monies, as a direct nursery for \dce ; and as to its routine of pleas- 
ures, it became to him only a routine of disgust. 

Thus disappointed again in his expectations, but not yet over- 
come, the Admiral had recourse to another expedient, an expedi- 
ent, indeed, which he had always contemplated in case of the fail- 
nre of the other. He had large estates in Ireland, one of which, 
comprehending Shannigary Castle, lay in the barony of Imokelly, 
anil the others in the baronies of Ibaune and Barryroe, all of them 
in the county of Cork. He- determined therefore to give his son 
the sole management of these, knowing at least, while he resided 
upon them, that he would be far from his English connections, and 
at any rate that he would have ample employment for his time. 
William received his new commission. He was happy in the ex- 
ecution of it. He performed it also, after a trial of many months, 
to the entire satisfaction and even joy of his father ; and he was 
going on in the yet diligent performance ofit, when, alas! thishis ve- 
ly occupation (so often do the efiortsmade to prevent an appi-ehend- 
€d evil become the means of introducing it) brought him eventually 
into the situation which his father of all others deprecated ! Being 
accidentally on business at Cork, he heard that Thomas Loe (the 
layman of Oxford, mentioned in the preceding chapter to have 
been the person who first confirmed his early religious impressions) 
was to preach at a meeting of the Quakers in that city. It was im- 
possible that he could return to his farm without seeing the man 
whom he considered as his greatest human benefactor, and still 
more without hearing his discourse. Accordingly he attended. 
The preacher at length rose. He began with the following text : 
" There is a faith which overcomes the world, and there is a faith 
which is overcome by the v/orkK" On this subject he enlarged, 
and this in so impressive a manner that William was quite over- 
come. The words indeed of the text were so adapted to his situa- 
tion, that he could hardly help considering them as peculiarly ad- 
dressed to himself; for, from the time of his leaving Chigwell 
school to the present, there had been a constant struggle between 
himself and the world, and this entirely on account of his faith. 
Such a discourse, if ablj-^ handled, must have come home to him in 
every sentence. He must have seen his own arduous conflict per- 
sonified as it were and pourtrayed before him. He must have seen 
the precipice on which he had stood, with the gulf terrible below. 
He must have seen sonae angel in the picture clieering him for the 
efforts he had already made, and some other holding up to his 
view, at a distance, a wreath of never-fading glory, which he 
Tnight gain by perseverance for the time to come. But whatever 
v.ere the tonics of this discourse, it is certain that William wa.s so 



OF WILLIAM PENN. IT 

impressed by it, that though he had as yet not discovered a par- 
tiality for any pitticular sect, he favoured the Quakers as a religi- 
ous l)i)d; from that day. 

The result of this preference was, that he began to attend their 
re'.ii^ious meetings. But, alas ! he soon learnt, from the ignorant 
p ej'ulic^'S of the times, that in following the path which his own 
couscieiice dictated to him, he had a bitter cup to drink : for being 
at oil',* of these meetings on the tiiird of September 1667, he was 
appr»^herided on the plea of a proclamation issued in 1660 against 
tu iiultuous assemblies, and carried before the mayor. The latter, 
looking at him and observing that he was not clothed as others of 
tl p society were, offered him his liberty if he would give bond for 
his good behaviour. But William not choosing to do this, he was 
coni'nitted with eighteen others to prison. 

He had not b^en long there wlien he wrote to Lord Orrery, then, 
president of the council of Munster, to request his release. We 
find in this letter nothing citlier servile or degrading. It was 
written, on the other hand, in a manly and yet decorous manner. 
*' ^'eligion,^^ savs he, " which is at once my crime and mine inno- 
cence, makes me a prisoner to a mayor's malice, but mine own free 
7UO/2." He then informed the Earl of the reason of his imprison- 
ment : he shewed him, that the proclamation did not reach his 
case ; and concluded by an appeal to his own good sense, and to 
his better knowledge of theology, and by reminding him of his 
own conduct, when he himself was a solicitor in behalf of liberty 
of conscience as one of the greatest blessings which could be be- 
stowed upon the land. This request, as far as William was con- 
cerned, was quickly granted ; for the Earl immediately ordered 
his discharge. 

William Penn had now for the fn-st time tasted persecution for 
having gratified his religious predilections, and had received an 
earnest of what he might expect if h.e continued publicly to indulge 
them in his own wav. This experience, however, had not the ef- 
fect of making him desert his new Christian connections. On the 
other hand, it strengthened him in the resolution of a closer union 
with them. He had begun to suffer w ith them. He had begun too 
to suffer for their cause. Mixing therefore more intimately with 
them than ever, from this period, he began to be considered by ma- 
ny, and even to be called by some, a Quaker. 

The rumour that he had become a Quaker soon reached his fa- 
ther. It was conveyed to liim by a nobleman then resident in Ire- 
land, who addressed him purposely on the subject. The Admiral 
on the receipt of this letter sent for his son. William immediate- 
ly obeyed and returned home. At the first interview all appear- 
ed to be well. There was nothing discoverable, either in his dress 
or his manners, by which the information sent concerning him 
could be judged to be true. In process of time, however, the con- 
cern of mind under which he occasionally laboured, his derelic- 
tion of the customs of the world, and particularly of the ceremony 
of the Hat, and his communion with those only of the same pecul- 
iar cast, left no doubt of the fact. The Admiral, now more unea- 
sy than ever, (for he had tried hi« last expedient.) could no longerr 



is MEMOIRS or THE LIFE 

contain himself, but came to a direct explanation with his son on 
the subject. The scene which passed between them is described 
as having been peculiarly affecting. '' And here," says Joseph 
Besse, (the first collector of tlie works of William Penn with a 
Journal of his Life prefixed,) " my pen is diffident of her abilities 
to describe that most pathetic and niovins; contest which was be- 
tween his father and him : his father actuated by natural love, prin- 
cipally aiming at l)is son's temporal honour; he, guided by a divine 
impulse, having chiefly in view his own eternal welfare : his father 
grieved to see the well accomplished son of his hopes, now ripe lor 
worldlj promotion, Toluntarily turning his back upon it; he, no less 
afflicted to think a compliance with his earthly father's pleas- 
ures was inconsistent with his obedience to his heavenly one : his 
father pressing his conformity to the customs and fashions of the 
times ; he, modestly craving leave to refrain from what would hurt 
his conscience : his father earnestly entreating him, and almost on 
his knees beseeching him, to yield to his desire ; he, of a loving and 
tender disposition, in an extreme agony of spirit to behold !iis fa- 
ther's concern and trouble : his father threatening to disinherit 
him ; he, humbly submitting to his father's will therein : his father 
turning his back on him in anger ; he, lifting up his heart to God 
for strength to support him in that time of trial." 

This interview, though some of the best feelings of the human 
mind were called forth in the course of it on the part of William, 
had not the desired effect: for the die was then cast; he had actual- 
ly become — a Quaker. The Admiral, after this, gave up all thoughts 
of altering the general views of his son. He hoped only to be able 
to prevail upon him to give up certain peculiarities which appear- 
ed to have little to do with conscience, and to be used merely as the 
distinguishing marks of a sect. He therefore told his son, that he 
woultt trouble him no more on the subject of his conversion, if he 
would only consent to sit with his hat off in his own presence, and 
in that of the King and the Duke of York. William, on receiving 
the proposition, desired time to consider of it. This agitated his 
father. He had no conception that the subject of his solicitation 
required thought. He became immediately suspicious, and told 
his son, that he had only asked for time, that he might consult his 
friends the Quakers. William assured his father that he would do 
no such thing ; and having pledged his word to this effect, he left 
him, and retired to his own chamber. 

It will be asked by some, what r.ecessity there could be, in a 
matter apparently so trivial, to retire either for serious meditation 
or for divine help ? The answer can be furnished only by repre- 
senting what were the notions of the Quakers on this subject at the 
time in question. I may observe then, that, when they were first 
gathered out of the world, they c<»nsidered themselves as a select 
people, upon whom it devolved to bear their public testimony by 
abandoning all those fashions and customs belonging to it, which 
either corrupted or had a tendency to corrupt the mind. Among 
others they discarded what may be called the ceremonial use of the 
hat, such as the pulling it off" on complimentary occasions. This 
they did in particular fur the following reasons. First, thej took 



O? WILLIAM PENN. 19 

it for grantecl that the use of the hat in the way described was ei- 
ther to show honour, respect, submission, or some similar feeling 
of the mind ; but they contended, that, used as it then wts, it was 
no more a criterion of these than mourning garments were crite- 
rions of sorrow. The custom therefore, in their opinion, led to re- 
peated acts of insincerity. A show was held out of the mind's in- 
tention where no such intention existed. Now Christianity was 
never satisfied but with t!ie truth. It forbade all false appearances. 
It allowed no action to be resorted to, that was not correspondent 
with the feelings of ihe heart. Secondly, in the case where the 
custom was intended to have a meaning, it was generally' the sign 
of flattery. But no man could give way to flattery without de- 
grading hitnself, and at the same time unduly exalting the person 
whom he distinguished by it. Hence they gave to the custom the 
name of Hat-worship, a name which it bears among them at the 
present day. Thirdly, it was the practice of their ministers, a 
practice enjoined by the apostle Paul, to uncover their heads, that 
is, to pull oft" their hats, both when they preached and prayed. But 
if they took off their hats as an outward act enjoined in the ser- 
vice of God, neither the}'^ nor tlieir followers could with propriety 
take them off to men, because they would be thu-; giving to the 
creature the same outward honour which they gave to th© Creator. 
From this account it will be obnoits, that the ceremonial use of 
the hat was considered by the early Quakers as more connected 
with the conscience than the Admiral had imagined it to be : and in 
this point of vie wit was considered byhis son also; for he looked upon 
the request of his father as neither more nor less than a call upon 
him to pull down one of the human barriers which he had but just 
erected in defence of his own virtue. This thought produced in 
him an awful feeling; for, if one of thtse barriers were destroyed,, 
the citadel itself would be less safe. He conceived that if an in- 
road,h()wever 8mall,were once suffered to be made on principle,other 
inroads would become more easy. If the mind gave way but to one 
deviation from what was right, it would more easily give way to 
others ; for, as in no instance it could do so without losing a por- 
tion of its virtue, so, this portion being lost, its pov/ers of resistance 
would be weakened. Under this impression, conjoined with the 
circumstance of his father's application, he experienced a severe 
conflict. He loved his father, and respected him ; yet he dared 
not do that which he conceived would obstruct his religious growth. 
He was sensible of the duty which he owed him as a parent ; but 
he was equally sensible of a superior duty to God, to whom ulti- 
mately he was responsible. Yielding at length to these consider- 
ations, he found himself ctmipelled to infoim his father, that he 
could not accede to his request. This he did with expressions of 
the greatest tenderness and affliction, as well as of filial submis- 
sion. The Admiral heard his answer, but could not bear it. Un- 
able to gain the least concession from his son, and in apoint where 
he judged it impossible that persons bred up as gentlemen could 
disagree, he gave way to his anger, and in the violence of the blast, 
'vluch followed it, he once more turned him out of doors. 



20 W-EMOIRS OF THE LI?E 



CHAPTER IV. 



,B. 1668 — becomes a minister of the Gospel — publishps " Truth ex- 
alted^'' — also '• The Guide mistaken^'' — holds a public controv-V' 
sy with Vincent in the Fresbi/terian vieettno'-honse'—puh'is'i- 
es " The Sandy Foundation shaken''' — general contents of the 
same — is sent in consequence to the Tower — sends an nvsrer 
from thence to the Bishop of London — un-ites there " JV1> ( ross 
no Crown^' — particular contents and character of this rorA— 
substance of his letter to the Lord Arlington — writes " Innocen*- 
cy with her open Face''^ — is discharged from the Tower. 

"William was now thrown upon the wide world. Having no 
independent fortune of his own, and having been brouii'st up to 
no trade or profession, he had not t!ie means of gettinu !iis liveli- 
hood like other people. This sudden change from affluence to 
poverty could not but at first have affected him : but the thouglit 
of having broken the peace of mind, however innocently, ol so 
valuable a father, and of being apparently at variance with h m, 
•was that which occasioned him the most pain. He is said to have 
borne his situation with great resignation, derivinji; support from 
the belief, that they who left houses and parents for the kingdom 
of God's sake, should eventually reap their reward. He began 
however to find, that even in his temporal state he was not des^ert- 
ed. His mother kept up a communication with him privately, feed- 
ing him as well as she could from her ov< n purse ; and several kind 
friends administered also to his wants. 

In 1668, being then twenty-four years of age, he came forth in 
the important character of a minister of the Gospel ; having, as has 
been before stated, joined in membership with the religious society 
of the Quakers. 

In this year he became an author also. His first work bore the 
following title : " Truth exfilted, in a short but sure Testimony a- 
gainst all those Religions, Faiths, and Worships, that have been 
formed and followed in the Darkness of Apostacy, and for that 
glorious Light, which is now risen and shines forth in tlie I>ife and 
Doctrine of the despised Quakers, as the alone good old Way of 
Life and Salvation." This work, in which he thought it his duty 
to stand forth to the world as the champion of his own particular 
faith, was an address to kings, priests, and people, and to persons 
of various denominations in religion ; to the Catholics first, then 
to those of the Church of England, and lastly to the different Pro- 
testant Separatists. He exhorted them severally to examine the 
ground on which their faith and worship stood ; to inquire how far 
these were built on divine authority, or only on the notions of 
men ; and hov/ far they were vitally supported, or depend"ent up- 
on carnal forms. He put questions to all of them concerning their 
doctrine and practice, hj which it was plain he conceived tlieir re- 
ligion to stand " not in the divine, but in the fallen or apostate na- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 21 

ture : not in the broken, but in tlie stony heart." He then called 
their attention towards the faith and practice of the Quakers, by 
mean^ of which he contended that tlie Truth, that is, Christianity, 
was exalted ; and that this was the only system of faith and practice 
which would radically redeem from human traditions, carnal cer- 
emonies, and a persecuting spirit. 

It is probable that soue, judging from the title of this work, and 
from tlie substance of it as it has now been given, may accuse 
AViliiam Penn o' no sn\ail siiare of arrogance as the author of it. But 
t^iGisii must be informed, that it was the belief of the early Quakers, 
t!)at the svsfem of religious doctrine and practice, which was ini- 
troduced by George Fox, was really a new dispensation to restore 
Christianity to its primitive purity, and that they were to have the 
honour of being made the instruments of spreading it through the 
eai t'l. This belief arose out ol various considerations. In the first 
pLce. thev who followed this system led a life of great self-denial. 
Ihey abstained from the pleasures of the world, that they might 
avoid every thing that could contaminate their mor d character. 
They discaided all customs which could bring their sobriety, chas- 
tity, and independence, into danger. They watched over their very 
words, and changed the very names of things, that they might al- 
ways he found in the truth. They submitted to a discipline strict 
aod severe,tliat they mightbe continued in the proper path. Friends 
of peace, they avoided, as fur as was possible, all recourse to law, 
aii.l thev refused to bear arms ajrainst their fellow-creatures, oa 
any pretence whatever. Taking then into consideration this their 
system, and comparing it with the practice of the world, it appear- 
ed to them like the renovation of the primitive Christian system 
upon earth, ft approached also, in their opinion, like the latter, 
tlie nearest to the letter and spirit of the new covenant. When usher- 
ed into the m orld by them, it was followed, considering the severity 
of its (iiscipline.hy an almost miraculous proselytism. Priests, ma- 
gistrates, and people left their religion in great numbers, many of the 
formergiving up valu;ible livings to support it. They, too, who thus 
espoused it were ready, like the apostles of old, to stamp the sincer- 
ity of their conversion by martyrdom. From these and other con- 
siderations, the early Quakers looked upon the system in question 
in the liglit now mentioned ; and hence it was that they spoke with 
an authority which might have the appearance of arrogance with 
others. 

Much about this time a person of the name of Jonathan Clap- 
ham published '• A Guide to the True Religion." His object, as 
there stated, was to assist persons in making a proper choice of 
their faith. For this purpose he drew up a number of articles, 
which he considered to compose the true Christian creed. Those 
who embraced other articles, he pronounced to be incapable of sal- 
vation, but particularly the Papists, Socinians, and Quakers ; the 
last of whom he treated with (he most severity. This publication 
happened to fall into tlie hands of William Penn. It set him as it 
were on fire, and he brought out almost immediately " The Guide 
Mistaken." This book contained four chapters. In the first he 
attempted to confute the Guide's system of religion : in the S€C- 



2S MEMOIRS OF THE LIFK 

ond, he reprehended his aspersions ; in the third, he laboured to 
detect his hypocrisy ; and in the fourth, he compared his contra- 
dictions. 

*' The Guide Mistaken" had not been out long, when a circum- 
stance happened, which, as far as William Penu was concerned, 
led to a most disagreeable result, the particulars of which I must 
now explain. Two persons belonging to a Presbyterian congrega- 
tion in Spital-Fields went one day to the meeting- house of the 
Quakers, merely to learn what their religious doctrines were. It 
happened that they were converted there. Tins news being car- 
ried to Thomas Vincent, their pastor, it so stirix^d him up, that he 
not only used his influence to ])revent the converts in question 
from attending there again, but he decried the doctrines of the 
Quakers as damnable, and said many unhandsome things concern- 
ing them. This slander having gone abroad, William Penn, ac- 
companied by George Whitehead, an eminent minister among the 
Quakers, who had already written twenty-nine pamphlets in their 
defence, went to Vincent, and demanded an opportunity of defend- 
ing their principles publiclv. This, after a goi)d deal of demur, 
was agreed to. The Presbyterian meeting-house was fixed upon 
for this purpose, and the day and hour appointed also. 

When the time catne, the Quakers presented themselves at the 
door; but Vincent to insure a majority on his side, had filled a 
great part of the meeting-house with his own hearers, so that there 
was but little room for them. Penn, however, and Whitehead, 
with a few others of the society- pushed their way in. The}' had 
scarcely done this, when they heard it proclaimed aloud, "that 
the Quakers held damnable doctrines." Iiuraediately upon this 
Whitehead shewed himself. He began, in answer to the charge, 
to explain aloud what the principles of the society really were; 
but here Vincent interrupted him, contending that it would be a 
better way of proceeding, for himself to examine the Quakers as 
to their own creed. He tlien put a proposal to this effect to the 
auditors. They agreed to it, and their voice was law. 

Vincent, having carried his point, began by asking the Quakers, 
•'* Whether they owned one Godhead subsisting in three distinct 
and separate persons." Penn and his friend Whitehead, both as- 
serted that this, delivered as it was by Vincent, was no scriptural 
doctrine. Vincent, in reply, formed a syllogism upon the words 
'' There are three, that bear record in heaven, the Father, the 
Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one," and deduc- 
ed from them the doctrine of three separate subsistences and yet 
of but one Deit3% Whitehead immediately rejecte*! the term '• sub- 
sistence," as no where to he found in the Scriptures, and demand- 
ed that their opponents should explain it, as God did not wrap up 
Ins truths in heathenish metaphvsics, hut delivered them in plain 
language. Upon this several aliempted an explanation ; but the 
sum of all their answers was, th.at subsistence meant either person 
or the mode of a substance. To these substitutes Wiiiiam Penu 
and Whitehead hotli objected. They urj;ed many texts from Scrip- 
tuve in behalf of their objection; and having done this, they begged 
leave to ask Vincent one (juestion in their turn, namely, "whether 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 23 

God was to be understood in an abstractive sense fiom his sub- 
stance :" but the auditors pronounced tliis to be a point more fit 
for admiration than disj)ute. 

It will not be necessary to detail the arguments brought forward 
in this controversy, in which much was said but nothing settled. 
It will beproper,hovvever, to say something of the manner in which 
it was conducted, as well as of the result of it. While the debate 
was going on, great intem[>erance was betrayed on the part (•f sev- 
eral of the Presbyterians. They laughed, hissed, and stigmatized 
the Quakers by various opprobrious names, of which tliat of Jesuit 
was exclusively bestowed upon William Penn. On an answer 
which George Whitehead gave to a question, the indignation of the 
audience increased, so that Vincent immedia'ely went to prayer. 
In the course of his supplications he accused the Quakers of blaS'- 
phemy ; and having finished them, he desired his hearers to go 
home, and he withdrew himself at the same time from the pulpit. 
In this situation the Quakers knew not what to do. The congre- 
gation was leaving the meeting-house, and they had not yet been 
heard. Finding they would soon be left to themselves, some of 
them at length ventured to speak ; but they were ptilied down, and 
the candles (for the controversy had lasted till midnight) were put 
out. They were not however prevented by this usage from going 
on ; for, rising up, they continued their defence in the dark, and, 
M-hat was extraordinary, many staid to hear it. This brought Vin- 
cent among them with a candle. Addressing himself to the Quakers, 
ho desired them to disperse. To this at length they consented, 
but only on the proniise that another meeting should be granted 
tliem for the same purpose in the same place. 

William Penn and George Whitehead, having waited many 
days, during which they could not make Vincent perform his prom- 
ise, went to the meeting-house again. This happened on a lecture- 
day. They waited until the service was over, when they rose up, 
and begged that ihey m.ight he permitted to resume their defence. 
Vincent, however, who had by this time left the pulpil, made the 
best of his way home ; nor would any other of the congregation, 
though repeatedly called upon, supply his place, either to defend 
his conduct, or to argue the point in question. 

William Penn, deprived now of an opportunity of defending the 
doctrine which had been the subject of so much warmth during the 
controversy, determined upon an appeal to the public. Accord- 
ingly he brought out " Tiie Sandy Foundation Shaken.'' He in- 
troduced it by a preface, in which he noticed the proceedings rela- 
tive to Vincent as now mentioned, and observed upon the aj-gu- 
mcnts then adduced. He tl-.en attempted to refute " The Notion 
ot one God subsisting in three distinct and separate persons ;" 
also " The Notion of the Impossibility of God pardoning Sinners 
without a plenary Satisfaction ;" and " The Notion of the justifi- 
cation of Impure Persons by moans of an Imputative Ri^jhteous- 
ness." This he attempted to do by quotations from the Scriptures, 
bv right reason, by an account of the time and origin of these doc- 
trines, and hv the consequences which must fiow from them if ad- 
Butted, Tliis Mork, wiieu it came oat, g^ve great offence. It wa'^ 



24 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

then a high crime to defcrifl publicly and openly, as in print, the 
unity of God detached from his trinitarian nature. Among tie of- 
fended persons were some of the prelates, of whom the Bishop of 
London was mast conspicuous. These made it an affair of puUlic 
animadv'ersion by the government ; and the consequence was, that 
William Pen« was soon afterwards apprehended, and sent as a 
prisoner to the Tower. 

In this his new habitation he was treated with great severity. 
He was not onlykeptin close confinement, but no one of his friends 
■was permitted to have access to him A report was conveyed to 
him to aggravate his sufferings, that the Bishop of London had re- 
solved that he should either publicly recant or die in prison. But 
his conduct was like that of all who suffer for conscienre-s;ike. 
He was too sincere in his faith to be changed by such treatment. 
The law of force, the old state-argument in such cases, never con- 
quered religious error. In his reply to the Bishop of London, in- 
stead of making any mean concession, he gave him in substance to 
understand, " that he would weary out the malice of bis enemies 
by his patietice ; that great and good things were seldom obtained 
"without loss and hardsliips : tliat the man, who would reap and not 
labour, must faint with the wind and perish in disappointments ; 
and that his prison should he his grave, before he would renounce 
his just opinions ; for that he owed his conscience to no man." 

While lie was in tlie Tower, he could not, consistently with his 
notions of duty, remain idle. To do ijood by preaching, while im- 
mured there was impossible : he therefore applied himself to writ- 
ing. His first effort ended in the production of " No Cross, No 
Crown ;" a work which gave general satisfaction, and M'hich in his 
own lifetime passed through several editions. 

The design of this work seems to have arisen from the nature 
of his situation, combined with the view of doing good. He was 
then, as we have seen, a prisoner for conscience-sake. He was 
enduring hardships for the sake of his religion. He felt there- 
fore the necessity of laying down and enforcing the great doc- 
trine implied in the title of it, which was, that unless men are wil- 
ling to lead a life of self-denial, and to undergo privations and 
hardships in the course of their Christian warfare, or unless they 
are willing to bear the Cross, that is, of Christ, they cannot become 
capable of wearing the Crown, that is, of eternal glory. 

The work was divided into two parts, in the first of which 
he handled his subject thus. This great doctrine, he showed, 
had been disregarded by men, though essentially necessary to 
their salvation. Hence, they had degenerated from their prim- 
itive ancestors, the early converts to Christ. They had gone 
from purity to lust, from moderation to excess, and from love and 

charity to persecution. By this their conduct they might see 

as in a mirror how foul their lapse was ; yet mercv was to be 
found in repentance, through the propitiation of the blood of Jesus, 
and in bearing his cross, the glory of which had triumphed over 

the Heathen world. The Cross, he sai<l, was an expression 

borrowed from the wooden cross of Christ, on which he submitted 
to the will of God, who permitted him to suffer death at the hands 



d^ evil men. Hence the cross mystical was that divine grace anil, 
power which crossed the carnal wills of men, .aid gave a contra- 
diction to their corrupt affections, and which constantly opposed it- 
self to the inordinate and fleshly appetite of their minds, and so 
miglit be justly termed the instrument of man's holy dying to the 
world, and being made conformable to the will of God. This cros^ 
M^asto bi' borne within, that is, in the heartandsoul; for the heart of 
man was the seat of sin. Where the man was defiled, there Iiq 
must be sanctified ; where sin lived, there it must die, there it 
m,ust be crucified. The way in which it was to be borne was spir- 
itual, that is, by an inward submission of the aoul to the will of 
God, as it was manifested by the lij^ht of Christ in the conscience^ 
of men, though it was contrary to their own inclinations.— —The 
great work and business of the cross was self-denial. Of this, 
Christ was the great example ; and as he denied himself, and of- 
fered himself up by the eternal Spirit to the will of God, under- 
going the tribulations of his life and the agonies of his death upon 
the cross for man's salvation, so men were to deny themselves, 
and to otFer themselves up by the same Spirit to do or suffer the 
will of God for his service and glory. In self-denial there was a 
lawful and an unlawful self. The lawful self was connected with 
convenience, ease, enjoyment, plenty, which in themselves vrere 
so far from being evil, tliat they were God's bounty and blessings 
to us, as husband, wife, child, land, reputation, liberty, and life it- 
self. These were God's favours, which we might enjoy with law- 
ful pleasure, and justly improve as our lawful interest ; but when 
he, the lender, required or called for them, we must part with them, 
kowever great t!ie self-denial. The unlawful self was connect- 
ed, first, with religious worship ; and, secondly, with moral con- 
versation. As it related to worship, it was to be seen in carnal, 

fprmal, pompous, and superstitious practices, in stately buildings, 
images, rich furniture and garments, rare voices and music, costly 
lamps, v/ax-candles, and perfumes, by -.vhich men made God a be- 
ing sensual like themselves. This was such a cross as flesh and 
blood could bear, but not such an one by which flesh and blood could 
be crucified. Such external means could never remove internal caus- 
es. 'True worship was only from an heart prepared by God's 

hQly sJpirit, without which the soul of man was dead, and incapa- 
ble of glorifying him. Unlawful self as it related to moral corjif 

versation, was to be seen in pride and other unlawful passions. 
Pride was the first capital lust of degenerate Christendom- It 
coveted inordinate knowledge. Such coveting had been produc- 
tive of many evils. It coveted inordinate power. By such cov- 
eting it had broken the peace both of private families and of na- 
tions. It coveted inordinate honour and respect. By so doing, 

it had imposed degrading customs and fashions upon some. It had 
given false and flattering titles to others. But true honour and 

respect consisted not in observances like these. By so doing, 

it had introduced terms into speech, which were abhorrent from 
simplicity and truth. Such customs and fashions neitiier he nor 
his associates ia religion, who were bound to deny the lusts of the 
flesh, could follow. — > — Pride too led people to an excessive value 
D 



2J3 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

of their persons. It sought distinction by decorations, the very 
cost of which uouhl keep the poor ; but it became the beautiful to 
endeavour to make tlieir souls like their bodies. It made distinc- 
tion by blood and f^xniily ; but God made all out of one blood and 

one family ; there was no true nobility but in virtue The proud 

man was a glutton upon himself; insolent and quarrelsome : cow- 
ardly and cruel | an ill child, servant, and subject, inhospitable, 

mischievous in power. Avarice was the second capital lust. It 

had a desire of unlawful things. It had an unlawful desire of law- 
ful things. It was treacherous and oppressive. It marked the 

false prophet, and Mas a reproach to religion. Luxui^y was the 

third capital lust. This w;as a great enemy to the cross of Christ. 
It consisted in voluptuous or excessive diet, which injured both 
mind and body ; in gorgeous or excessive apparel, to the loss of 
innocence ; and in excess of recreations, contrary to the practice 
of the good men of old, whose chief recreation was to serve God 
and do good to mankind, and follow honest vocations. Sumptu- 
ous apparel, rich unguents, stately furniture, costly cooker}^, balls, 
masks, music-meetings, plays, and romances were not the many 
tribulations through which men were to enter the kingdom of God. 

Against such things there were heavy denunciations. Man, 

having but few davs, ought to spend his time better. Not only 
much good was omitted, but much evil committed, by a luxurious 

life. Such luxuries ought not to be encouraged by Christians. 

They made no part of the cup which Christ drank, and there- 
fore they did not constitute the cup which his disciples ought 
to drink. Against these, as well as against all customs and fash- 
ions which made up the attire and pleasure of the world he pro- 
tested, as enemies to inward retirement, and as borrowed from the 
Gentiles, who knew not God. It was said in their favour, that 
they afforded a livelihood to many : but we were not to do evil 

that good might com". However convenient, j'et if the use of 

them was prejudicial in example, they ought to be done away. He 
concluded by an exhortation to temperance, and to self-denial with 
respect to the customs and fashions in question, as the true means 
of ])reparing the way to eternal rest. 

These were, as concisely as I have been able to give them, the 
great heads of the first part or division of the work, which took up 
no less t! an eighteen chapters. But no juf't idea can be formed of 
the merits of it by so partial an account : for each chapter was a 
regular dissertation of itself on tlie subject it contained; in which, 
as opportunity offered, l;e explaim d the nature aJid origin of the evil 
complained of: in which he exhibited apicture ofitseffects: in which 
he contrastetl this picture with that which might have been drawn 
where there had been self-rlcnial : in which he reasoned, drew his in- 
ferences, and gave his warnings, enforcing all he said by a copious 
appeal to historv, apostolical usage, and holy writ. In those chapters 
where he touched upon tlie practices of the woild, fr om which he and 
his own leligious society had departed, he took occasinn to defend 
t'^eir conduct in so doing ; first, by exhibiting the reasons which 
t cv themselves gave for it ; and secondly, by maintaining its con- 
sistency both with tlie letter and the spirit of the Gospel. He con- 



OF WILLIAM FENN. '27 

*idereti too this their departiu-e from sucli practices, by which they 
submitteil to become singular ami therefore more liable to ridicule, 
as that proper public declaration of their testimony against cor- 
ruptive example, which was implied in the proper denial of self, 
or ill the bearing of the cro.vs of Clirist. 

The second part or division of the work consisted of a volumi- 
nous collection of the living and dying sayings of men eminent for 
their greatness, learning, or virtue, in divers periods of time, and 
in divers nations of the world. 

First, he noticed the Greeks antl Persians, making quotations 
concerning Cyrus, Artaxerxes, Agathocles, Philip, Alexander, 
Ptolemy, Xenophanes, Antigonu3, Themistocles, Aristides, Peri- 
cles, Fhociun, and twenty others. 

Secondly, he gave anecdotes of the following persons among the 
Romans : of Cato, Scipio Africanus, Augustus, Tiberius. Vespa- 
sian and Trajan. Adrian and eight others were also included in 
this account. 

Thirdly, he appealed to the lives and doctrines of some of the 
Heathen philosophers both among the Greeks and the Romans ; of 
Thales, Pythagoras, Solon, Chilon, Socrates, Plato, Quintilian, 
Seneca, and Epictetus. This appeal was of considerable length, 
as it contained biographical memoirs of no less than twenty-three 
philosophers of the same description, besides those just mentioned. 

Fourthly, he quoted the amounts handed down to us of the con- 
duct of virtuous Heathen women. He selected twelve for this 
purpose, among whom were Penelope, Lucretia, and Cornelia. 

From the Heatlien he went to Scripture history and that of the 
primitive Christians. He quoted sayings from i^olomon, tite doc- 
trine of Christ as recorded by Matthew about <Ienial of self, the ex* 
ample of John the IJaptist, the testimonies of the apostle Peter, and 
the exhortation of Paul ag.^inst pride, covetousness, and luxury. 
To this he added an account of the nonconformity of the primitive 
Christians to the world, sayings and observations by the Fathers 
of the church from Ignatius down to Augustine, quotations from ca- 
nons and epistles, and the examples of some of the ancient Chris- 
tian bishops. 

Lastly, he gave an account of the lives and sayings of many of 
those who lived in more modern times ; of Charles tlie Fifth. Mi- 
chael de Montaigne, Cardinal Woolsev, .Sir Philip Sidney, Secre- 
tary Walsingliam, Sir John Mason, Sir Walter Hawleigh, and 
twenty-six others, among whom were Kings. Princes, Chancellors, 
Counts, Cardinals, and others, who had distinguished themselves 
in England, France, Spain, Italy, Holland, and other parts of the 
world. 

His great object in making the above collection was to corrobo- 
rate and enforce all tliat he had laid down in the first part or di- 
vision of his work, namelv, that a life of strict viitue.that is. to do 
well and to bear or suifer ill, was the way to everlasting; happiness; 
or (hat, where there was no bearing of tlie cross of Christ, there 
would be no wearing of the crown of glory. 

Suc!i then were the contents of* No Cross, No Crown," as con- 
sisting of its two divisions, of v/hich it may be truly said, thattak- 



VB MEMOTRB OV TH-E I/IFE 

iiig it altogether, it was a great work, and more fespecially when 
me consider the youth of the author, and tlie short time in which 
iie composed it. It was rich in doctiine, rich in scriptural exam- 
ples, and profuse in a display of history. It discovered great eru- 
dition, extensive reading, and a considerable knowledge of the 
tvorld. 

Among other emplo}ntnents of William Penn, while in the Tow- 
ner, he wrote to the Lord Arlington, then principal secretary of 
state, by whose warrant he had bef n sent tliere. Having reflected 
Upon his own case, during his confinement, he was of opinion, the 
■more he considered it, that the Government, by depriving him of 
his liberty, had acted upon principles not to be defended eitl'er by 
the laws of the Christian religion or by those of the realm. He there- 
fore wrote to him to desire his release. We find in this letter sev- 
eral just and noble sentiments. He tells the Lord Arlington '• that 
he is at a loss to imagine how a diversity of religious opinions can 
aft'ect ihe safety of the State, seeing that kingdoms and commoji- 

"wealths kai'e lived under the balance of divers parties. He con- 

fceives that they only are unftdn- political society, who maintain prin- 
ciples siibversice of industry, fidelity, justice^ and obedience ; but to 
say that men must forin their faith of things proper to another world, 
according to the prescriptions of other mortal men of this, and, if 
they do not, that they have no right to be at liberty or to live in this, 

is both ridicidous and dangerous. He maintains that the under- 

^standing can never be convinced by other arguments than what are 
adequate to its own nature. Force may make hypocrites, but can 
make no converts ; and if, says he, I am at any time convinced, I 
■will pay the honour of it to truth, and not to base and timorous hy- 
pocrisy. .He then desires, as many of his enemies have retract- 
ed their opinions about him, and as his imprisonment is against the 
privileges of an Knglishman as well as against the forbearance in- 
separable from true Christianity, that he may receive his discharge. 
Should this be denied him, he begs access to the King ; and if this 
should be denied him also, he hopes the Lord Arlington will him- 
self hear him against such objections as may be thought weighty; 
so that, if he is to continue a prisoner, it may be known for ivhat» 
He makes, he says, no apology for his letter, the usual style of 
suppliants, because he conceives that more honour will accrue to 
the Lord Arlington by being just, than advantage to himself as an 
individual by becoming personally free." 

William Penn, notwithstanding this letter, continued still in 
prison ; when understanding that " The Sandy Foundation shak- 
■en,-' which had occasioned such an outcry against him, had been 
misrepresented, he wrote, by way of apology for it, and to correct 
finy misapprehension about it, a little tract, which, in allusion to 
t;he conscious rectitude of his own conduct and the undisguised 
inanner in which he there explained hims«lf, he called " Innocen- 
"cy with her open Pace." In this new work he reviewed the three 
subjects which constituted the contents of the former. He argued, 
as before, against the notion of the impossibility of God pardoning 
sinners without a plenary satisfaction, which was one of them, and 
9l1so against that of the justification of impure persons by an impu- 



OF WILLIAM t»ETSPN. »j^ 

tative righteousness, which was another ; and he appealed addi- 
tionally to the liigh authority of Stillingfleet, in his late discourse 
about Christ's sufteriiigs. against Crellius, in his favour. With 
respect to the tliird notion, hi maintained that he had been mis- 
understood. \ conclusion had been drawn that, because he had 
denied one God subsisting in three distinct and separate persons, 
he had denied t!ie divinity of Christ. He cited, therefore, several 
passages from Scripture to prove that Christ was God. This doc- 
trine, he asserted, was an article of his own faith ; and, as a proof 
that it had been so, he desired those, who thouglit otherwise, to 
consult his " Guide mistaken," which he had published before 
**The Sandy Foundation shaken," and in v/hich they would find 
that he had acknowledged both the divinity and eternity of Christ. 
His enemies, therefore, he said, had been beating the air and fighti- 
ing with their own shadows in supposing what he himself had nei- 
ther written nor even thought of. These were concisely the con- 
tents of his last work. When it came out, it is said to have giveia 
satisfaction. Some, hov/ever, of his enemies contended that he 
had disgraced himself by producing it ; that he had read his own 
recantation in it ; and that from a Socinian he had all at once be- 
come a defender of the Trinity. They, however, who asserted 
this, did not know that he rejected the latter doctrine, merely on 
account of the terms in which it had been wrapped up by Vincent 5 
terms which, he said, were the inventions of men three hundred 
years after the Christian sera, and which were no where to be found 
in the Scriptures. In this respect, that is, as far as the doctrine 
comprehended three separate Persons in one God, he uniformly 
rejected it ; but he never denied that of the Divinity of Christ, or 
of" a Father, Word, and Spirit." 

Soon after the publication of " Innocency with her open Face," 
he was discharged from the Tower, after having been kept therfc 
on terms of unusual severity for seven months. His discharge 
came suddenly from the King, who had been moved to it by the 
intercession of his brother, the Duke of York. It is* not known 
whether William Penn's father, the Admiral, applied to the Duke 
for this purpose, or whether the Duke outof compliment to the Ad* 
miral made a voluntary application of himself : certain, however,it 
■i$, that hut for this interference he would have remained in prison^ 



^ MEMOIRS or THE LIFE 



CHAPTER V. 



Ji, 1669-^visits Thomas Loe on his death-hed — exhortation of the 
latter-^is sent again to Ireland — ivrites a " Letter to the young 
convinced'^'— procures the discharge of several from prison-— 
returns to England — is reconoiled to his father. 

The first place in which we find William Penn after his libera- 
tion from the Tower, was at the bed-side of Thomas Loe, who was 
then on the eve of departing from the world . It cannot but be 
remembered that Thomas Loe was the person, who, while William 
Penn was at Oxford, confirmed the religious impressions he had 
received at Chigvvell school. He was the person also who had 
given a bias to his mind, while in the city of Cork, by which he was 
disposed, at a time when looking out for some practical system of 
religion for himself, to fix upon that of the Quakers. Here then 
we see the master and the disciple brought together, and this at an 
awful crisis. It must have been a most gratifying circumstance 
to Thomas Loe, when he considered the imprisonment of William 
Penn, the undaunted manner in which he had borne it, and the useful 
■way in which he had spent his time while under it, (but particularly 
in the production of" No Cross, No Crown," in which work he incul- 
cated, even when in bonds, that bonds were to be endured for reli- 
gion's sake,) to find that one, who had received as it were his own 
baptism, had, when tried by the fire, come out of it like pure gold. 
And that these sentiments were then uppermost in the mind of the 
dying minister, there is no doubt ; for, though the particulars of 
this interesting interview are not known, it is yet recorded that 
Thomas Loe, in taking his final leave of William, gave him the fol- 
lowing exhortation : " Bear thy cross, and stand faithful to God ; 
then he will give thee an everlasting crown of glory that shall not 
be taken from thee. There is no other way that shall prosper, than 
that which the holy men of old walked in, God hath brought im- 
mortality to light, and life immortal is felt. His love overcomes 
my heart. Glory be to his name for evermore !" 

It is now pleasing to relate that the Admiral, though he had dis- 
carded his son, began again to relent. He could not help think- 
ing, however, his son might have been mistaken, that at least he 
was sincere, or that his steady perseverance in the course he had 
taken, in spite of all persecution, was a proof of his integrity. He 
now allowed hira to be at his own house, though he did not see 
him, and caused it to be signified to him tluough his mother, that 
he might return to Ireland, there to execute a commission for him. 

William Penn was greatly cheered by this, though partial, gleam 
of returning love on the part of his father, and accordingly pro- 
pared for his journey. In the month of August he reached Cork. 
He entered immediately upon his father's business. In the inter- 
vals, however, of his leisure, he attended to the concerns of his 
ov/n religious society. He preached, as occasion offered, both at 
Cork and Dublin. He attended the national meeting of the Qua- 



OF WILLIAM PBNN. Sl 

kers in the latter city. He wrote also several little tracts to pro- 
mote the religion he had espoused. Among these was his Letter 
" To the young convinced." He meant by the latter appellation 
■such as had lately become converts to his own religious laith He 
began by explaining to these, whom he considered to have been 
called out of the pleasures and vanities of the world, the nature of 
their new calling. He visited them, he said, as a traveller in th« 
same path, in bowels of tenderness and compassion, to exh«rt them 
to make this their calling and election sure. For this purpose he 
invited them to hold meetings for worshipfrequently, to beware of 
all lightness, jesting, and a careless mind, and to endeavour as 
much as possible, both by their conversation and conduct, to keep 
in the simplicity of the cross of Christ. If the world was constant 
to its own momentary fashions, the more it became them to be con- 
stant in their testimony against it. If, however, in doing this they 
should meet with heavy exercises, they were not to murmur against 
God, but to give themselves up to his will. No external fear was 
to shake them ; for that same Power, which had wrought a change 
in their hearts, was able to carry them through tiiis their terres- 
trial trial. 

But his great employment, during his leisure, was in visiting 
those of his poor brethren who were in prison on account of their reli- 
gion, a case which he could well estimate by reflecting upon that 
which had been his own. He held religious meetings with these 
in their gaols, in which he endeavoured to comfort them to the ut- 
most of his power. He drew up also an account of the cases of 
several, most of whom were then in confinement for no other rea- 
son than that they had been found worshipping in places which the 
law did not then recognise. This account, which was of the na- 
ture of an address, he presented to the Lord Lieutenant with his 
own hand ; and he followed it up with such unremitting zeal, call- 
ing in the aid of his father, and of all those courtiers whom he could 
interest, that at length an order in council was obtained for their 
release. 

Having executed his father's commission, he returned to Eng- 
land. On his arrival there a reconciliation took place, to the joy 
of all concerned, but particularly of hjs mother j after which he 
took up his residence in his father's house. 



5EI M&MOKHSj 0£- TOK LIB£ 



CHAPTER VI. 



j^ 1670-^.preackei^in Graceohiirch-street — is tnken up^ and coihr 
mitUd to J\rewgate—-'is tried at the Old Bailey and acquitted — 
account of this memorable trial — nf tends his father on his death- 
bed — dying sayings of the latter — publishes. " The People's an- 
cient and just libertifs asserted^' — disputes publicly with Jeremy 
Ives at High Wycomb — writes to the Vice-chancellor of Oaford 
'—•publishes '• Ji seasonable caveat against Fopery^'—is again, 
taken up for pr meltings and sent to the Toiver, and from thence. 
to JS^ewgate. 

In the year 1670 the famous Conventicle Acts was passed by 
Parliament, which prohibited Dissenters from worshipping God in, 
their own way. It had been first suggested by some of the bishops. 
The chaplain of the Archhi-vhop of Cajiterbiiry had previously 
printed a discourse against toleration, in which he asserted as a. 
main principle, that it would be less iiijurious to the Government 
to dispense with profane and loosip persons than to allow a tolera- 
tion to reli-rious Oissenters. '• This act," says Thomas Ellwood,. 
*' brake down and overran the bounds and banks anciently set for 
the defence and security of Englishmen's lives, liberties, and propr 
erties, namely, trials by jury, instead tliereof directing and autho- 
rizing justices of the peace (and that too privately out of sessions) 
to convict, fine, and by their warrants distrain upon offenders a- 
gainst it, direc'ly contrary to the Great Charter.''^ It was impos- 
sible that an act like this could pass without becoming a source of 
new suffering to William Penn, situated as be then was, first, as a 
minister of the Gospel, and secondly, as a man who always dared 
to do what he thought to be his duty. Accordingly he was one of 
the earliest victims to its decrees : for, going as usual with others 
of his own religious society to their meeting-house in Gracechurch- 
«treet to perform divine worship, they found it guarded by a band 
of soldiers. Being thus himlered from entering it, t^iey stopped 
for a while about the doors. Others who came up joined the for- 
mer, and stopped also, so that in a little time tliere was a consid- 
erable assembly on the spot. By tliis time "William Penn felt him- 
self called upon to preach ; but he had not advanced far in his dis- 
course, when he and another of the society, William Mead, were 
seized by constables, who produced warrants signed by Sir Samu- 
el Starling, then lord mayor, for that purpose. The whole plan of 
the arrest had been previously concerted, and the warrants con- 
trived accordingly. The constables, after they bad seized them, 
conveyed them to Newgate, where thev were lodged, that they 
might be ready to take their trial at the next session of the Old 
Bailey. 

On the first of September the trial came on ; and here I have to 
express my regret that the limits which I have proposed to this 
work should prevent me from presenting it at full length to the 
notice of the reader, because altogether it is a very interesting 



Of WILLIAM PEWN. flS 

event in our history, and one of which no part that is recorded) 
ought to be lost to posterity. I will, however, give, as far as I am 
able, the most prominent features in it. 

The persons who were present on the bench as Justices on this 
day were Sir Samuel Starling, lord mayor; John Howel, recorder; 
Thomas Bludworth, William Peak, Richard Ford, John Robinson, 
Joseph Shelden, aldermen ; and Richard Brown, John Smith, and 
James Edwards, sheriffs. 

The Jury, who were impannelled, and whose names ought to be 
hanied do'vn to the love and gratitude of posterity, were Thoni" 
as Veer, E('ward Busliel, John Hammond, Charles Milson, Gregory 
Walklet, John Brigbtman, William Plumstead, Henry Henly, 
James Damask, Henry Michel, William Lever, and John Baily. 

The indictment stated, among other falsehoods, that the prison- 
ers had preached to an unlawful, seditious, and riotous assembly ; 
that they had assembled by agreement matle beforehand ; and that 
they had met together with force and arms, and this to the great 
terror and disturbance of many of His Majesty's liege-subjects. 

Very little was done on this day. The prisoners were brought 
to the bar: and having made their observations on several things 
as they passed, they pleaded Not guilty to tlie indictment. The 
Court was then adjourned. In the afternoon they were brought 
to the bar again ; but they were afterwards set aside, being made 
to wait till after the trial of other prisoners. 

On the third of September, the trial of those last mentioned be- 
ing over, William Penn and William Mead weve brought again 
into court. One of the officers, as they entered, pulled off their 
hats. Upon this the Lord Mayor became furious, and in a stern 
voice ordered hivn to put them on again. This being done, the Re- 
corder lined each of the prisoners forty aiarks, observing that the cir- 
cumstance of being covered there amounted to a contempt of Court. 

The witnesses were then called in and examined. It appeared 
from their testimony, tiiat on the fifteenth of August between three 
and four hundred persons were assembled in Gracechurcb-street, 
and that they saw William Penn speaking to the people, but 
could not distinguish what he said. One, and one only, swore 
that he heard him preach ; but on further examination he said that 
he could not, on account of the noise, understand any one of the 
words spoken. With respect to W^illiam Mead, it was proved 
that he was there also, and that he was heard to say something ? 
but nobody could tell what. This was in substance the whole of 
the evidence against them. 

The witnesses having finished their testimony, William Penu 
acknowledged that both he and his friend were present at the place 
and time mentioned. Their object in being there was to worship 
God. " We are so far (says he) from recanting, or declining to 
vindicate the assembling of ourselves to preach, prav, or worship 
the eternal, h<dy. just God, that we d clare to all the world, that 
we do believe it to be our indispensable duty to meet incessantly 
upon so good an account ; nor shall all the powers upon earth be 
able to divert us from reverencing and adoring our God, who made 
us." These words were scarcely pronounced, when Brown, one af 
E 



34 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

the sheriffs, exclaimed that he was not there for worshipping; God, 
but for breaking the law. William Penn replied, that he had broken 
Ho law, and desired to know by what law it was that tlu-y prose- 
cuted him, and upon what law it was that they founded t!^e indict- 
ment. Thi^ Recorder replied, The common law. William asked, 
vhere that law was The Recorder did not think it worth while, 
lie said, to run o\er all t'lose adjudged cases for so many years, 
which they called commttn law, to satisfy Ids curiosity. William 
Penn tiiought, if the law were common, it should not be so hard to 
produce. He was then desired to plead to the indictment ; hut on 
delivering his sentiments on this point, he was pronounced a saucy 
fellow. The following is a specimen of some of tl.e questions and 
answers at full length, which succeeded those now mentioned : 
JHecorder. — The question is, whether you are guilty of this indict- 
ment. 
W, Penn. — The question is not, wliether I am guilty of this indict- 
ment, but whether this indictment be legal, it is too general 
and imperfect an answer to say it is the common law, unless 
w • know where and what it is ; for where there is no law, 
) there is no transgression ; and tliat law which is not in being, 
is so far from being common, that it is no law at all. 
jRecorrfer.— You are ati imjiertinent fellow. Will you tench the 
Court what law is ^ It is lejc non scripfcu that which many 
have studied thirty or forty years to know, and would you 
have me tell you in a moment i 
W. PfHM.'— Certainly, if the common law be so hard to be under- 
stood, it is far from being very common ; but if the Lord 
Coke in his Institutes be of any consideration, he tells us, that 
common law is common riiiht. and that common right is the 
Great Charter pi ivileires confirmed. 
Recorder. — Sir, you are a troublesome fellow, and it is not to the 

honour of the Court to suffer y<»u to go on. 
W. Penn.—<1 have asked but one question, and you have not an- 
swered me, thouii;h the rights and privileges of every Englisli- 
man are concerned in it. 
Recorder. — If I should suffer you to ask questions till to-morrow 

morning, vou would be never the wiser. 
JV jPew??.-— That is accordins.- as the answers are. 
Pecorder.— -Bir. we must not stand to hear you talk all nijrht. 
W. Penn. — I de«iirn no affronttothe Court, but to be heard in my 
just plea ; and I must plainly tell you. that if you deny me the 
oyer of t^at law which you say I have broken, you do at once^ 
deny me an acknowledi,';ed right, and evidence to the wliole 
world your resolution to sacrifice the privileges of Englishmen 
to your arbitrary designs. 
Secordpr. — Take him awav. My Lo-d.if you take not 8ome course 
with this pestilent fellow to stop his mouth, we shall not be able 
to do an- t'ing: to-night. 
Mayor. — Take him away. Take him away. Turn him into the 

bale-dock. 
W. Venn. — These are but so many vain exclamations. Is this jus- 
tice or true judgment ^ Must I therefore be taken away, be- 



OF WILLIAM PKNK, 35 

cause I plead for the. fundamental laws of England ? However^ 
this I Iciive mjontlie consciences of you,wiioare of tiie Jury, 
and my sole Judges, that if these ancient fundamental laws, 
W'lich leiate to libcitj and propei ty, and which aie not limited 
to particular persuasions in matters of i elision, mustn^'t be in- 
dispensably maintiined and observed, wlio can say he hatha 
rigitt to tiie coit upon his back ? Certainly our liberties are to 
be openly invaded ; our wives to be ravishe<l ; our children 
slaved; our families ruined; and our estates led away in tii- 
umph by e\cvy sturdy beggar, and malicious informer ; as their 
tropiiics, b it our (pieteuded) forfeits for conscience-sake. 
The Lord of Heaven and earth will be Judge between us in 
tiiis matter. 
Hf carder — I5e silent t'. ere. 

W. Femi: — \ am not to be silent in a case where I am so mucK 
concerned ; and not only myself, but many ten tliousand fami- 
lies besides. 
Soon a ter t lis t!iey hurried him away, as well as William Mead, 
who spoke also, towards the bale-dock, a filthy, loathsome dungeon. 
T' e iiecorder then proceeded to charge tlie Jury. But William 
Peiin, he I'ing a pat t oltlie charge as he was retiring, stopped sud- 
denly, and, raisin.:; his voice, exclaimed aloud. "• I appeal to the Ju- 
ry, who a: e mv judges, and tills great assembly, wiietiertlie pro- 
ceedings of the Co irt are not most arbitrary, and void of all law, 
in endeavouring to give tiie Jury tlieir charge in the absence of the 
prisoners. I say it is directly opposite to and destructive of the 
undovi!>ted right of every English prisoner, as Coke on the chapter 
of Magna Charta speaks." Upon this some conversation passed 
between the parties, who were still distant from eachotiier; after 
which t' e two prisoners were forced to their loathsome cells. 

Being now out of all hearing, the Jury were ordered to agree 
upon tiieir verdict. Four, who appeared visibly to favour the pris» 
oners, ,veie abused ami actually tiireatened by t'e Recorder. 
They were then, all of them, sent out of t'ourt. On being brought 
in again i!'\Q.y delivered their verdict unanimously, which was, 
" Guilty of speaking in Gr icechurch-street -' 

The Magistrates upon the bench now lon.ded the Jury with re- 
proaches. They refused to take ti:eir verdict, and immediately ad- 
journed the Court, sending them away for halt an hour to recon* 
sider it. 

T!ie time having expired, the Court sat again. The prisoners 
were then brought to the bar, and the Jury again called in. The 
latter ha.ving taken their place, delivered the same verdict as be- 
fore, but with this diflercnce, that they then delivered it in writing 
with the signature of all their names. 

The Ma<>;isti ates v/erenow iiioro than ever enraged at the condj'c^ 
of the Jury, and they did not he>*ititc to express their indignation 
at it in terms the most opprobrious in open Court. The Recorder 
then add.-cised t'lein as follows .• '• Gentlemen, vou shall not be dis- 
missevl til! wi' have a vs^rdict such as the (^ourt will accept; and voU 
ihall he locked up without, meat, drink, fire and tobacco : you shall 



S& MEMOIRS OF THE LIKK 

uottliink tlius to abuse the Coiiit : we will liave a verdict by the 
hel[; Grod, or you shall starve for it." 

William Penn, upon hearing this address, imiriediately spoke as 
follows : " My Jury, who are my judges, ought not to he thus men- 
aced : t'eir verdict should be free, and not compelled ; the Bench 
ought to w 'it upon them, and not to forestall them. I do desire that 
Justice may be done me, and that the arbitrary resolves of the Bench 
may not be made the measure oi my jury's verdict.'' 

Other words passed between them ; after which the Court was 
about to adjourn, and tlie Jury to he sent to their clmmber, and the 
prisoners to their loathesome hole, when William Penn observed, 
that the agreement of twelve men was a verdict in law ; and such a 
verdict having been given by the Jury, he requir ed the Clerk of the 
Peace to record it, as he would answer it at his peril : and if the 
Jury brought in another verdict contrary to this, he affiimed.that 
they would be perjured in law. Then, tinning to the Jury, he said 
additionally,'' You are Englishmen. Mind your privilege. Give 
not away your right " 

One of the Jury now pleaded indisposition, and desired to be dis- 
missed. This request, however, was not granted. The Court on 
the other hand swore several persons to kee| the Jury all night 
without meat, drink, fire, tobacco, or any other accommodation 
wh'itsoever, and tl'«'n adjourned til! seven the next morning. 

The next morning, which was September the fourth, happened to 
be Sunday. The Jury were again called in, but they returned the 
same verdict as before. The Bench now became outiageou*, and 
indulged in the most vulgar and brutal language, such indeed as 
■would be almost incredible if it were not upon record. Tlie Jury 
were again charged, and again sent out of court : again they le- 
turned : again they delivered the same verdict: again they were 
threatened. William Penn having spoken against the injustice of 
the Court in having menaced the Jury who were his judges by the 
Great Charter of England, and in having rejected their verdict, 
the Lord Mayor exclaimed, " Stop his mouth, gaoler, bring fetters, 
and stake him to the ground." William Penn replied, " Do your 
pleasure, I matter not your fetters." The recorder observed, 
" 'Till now I never understood the reason of the policy and prudence 
of tlie Spaniards in suffering the Inquisition among them ; and cer- 
tainly it will never he well witli us, till somethinglike the Spanish In- 
quisition be in England. Upon this the Jury were ordered to with- 
draw to find another verdict : but they refused, saying, they had 
already given it, and that they could find no other. The Sheriff 
then forced them away. Several persons were immediately sworn 
to keep them without any accommctdation as before, and the Court 
adjourned till seven the next morning. 

On the fifth of September the Jury, who had received no refresh- 
ment for two days and two nights, were again called in, and the 
business resumed. The Court demanded a positive answer to 
these words, " Guilty or Not guilty .^" The Foreman of the Jury 
replied "Not guilty." Every juryman was then required to re- 
-peat this answer separately. This he did to the satisfaction ol aJ- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 3? 

most all in court. The lollowing address and conversation then 

pasi^eU. ' ._w— •■•'" " ■ _,. _ ,,,.,,..,,,, 

/^ JCecorder. — " Gentlemen of the Jury, I am sorry you have follow- 
ed your ov/n judgments rather tiian tlic guod advice which was 
given you. (jod keep my life out of jour hands ! But for 
tliis the court fines you forty marks a man, and imprisonment 
till paid." 
IF. Penn. — '" 1 demand my liberty, being freed by the Jury." 
Jilnyor. — •' No. You are in for your lines." 
jr. Fenn. — " Fines for what .^" 
.Mayor — " For contempt of Court." 

W. Fenn.'—^' 1 ask if it he according to the fundamental laws of 
Fn^iand, that any Kni;lishman sliould be fined or amerced but 
by the judgment of iiis peers or jury, since it expressly con- 
tradicts the fourteenth and twenty -ninth chapters of the Great 
Chiuter of ICngland, which says, '• No freeman shall be amerc- 
ed but by the o.tth of good and lawful men of the vicinage." 
Recorder. — " Take hiui away." 

W Fenn. — ■*' I can never urge the fundamental laws of Engl.jnd 
but you cry like hiui away ; but it is no wonder, since the 
Spanish Inquisition iias so great a place in the Kecorder's . / 
hea't. God. vvi.o is ju^t, will judge you for all these things."/ / 
These woi'ds were no sooner uttered than William Penn and 
his friend William ^*!ead. were io'ced into the hale-dock, from 
whence t';ey were sent to Newgate. Every one of the Jury also were 
sent to the latter prison. 'I'iie plea for this barbarous usage was, 
tiiat both t'le prisoners and the Jury refused to pay the fine of for- 
ty niar'.s'w'iic!i !iad been nut upon each of them ; upon the former, 
because one of the Mayor's officers iiad put their hats upon their 
heads by his own command ; and Uj'on the latter, because they 
would n!)t bring in a verdict, contrary to their own consciences, 
in compliance with the wislses of tlie Bench. ^ 

r;ius ended this famous trial; through which, as sustained by 
William Penn with so much ability at the age of twenty-five, I 
have conduct. (1 tlie reader by as short a path as 1 well could, con- 
sidering its vast importance ; a trial hv which we see the assertion 
proveil, that the noble instifidion of Juries is tha grand jmlladhim 
of our liberties ; a trial, which for the good it has done to posterity 
ought to be engraved on tablets of the most durable maible ; for it 
was one of those events, which in conjunction with others of a sim- 
ilar sort, by shewing the inadequacy of punishment for relis;ion to 
its siippused end. not only corrected and improved the notions of 
succeeding ages in this respect, but by so doing lessened the rav- 
ages of persecution, and the enmity between man and man. Nor 
ought po'^terity to be less grateful for it as a monument of the fe- 
rocity and corrupt usages of former times ; for, contrasting these 
with the notions an<l customs of our own age, we behold that which 
we ought to contemplate, of all other things, with the greatest grat- 
itude and delight, namely, the improvement of our social and moral 
being. In those times of bigotry the world seemed to be little bet- 
ter than a state of warfare between man and man ; a state of war 
between mail and his government ; and this merelv because the' 



3S MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

one differed from the other in those matters, of ■which Goil only 
was the proper and lawful judge. But now happily the case is al- 
tered. We behold indeed the fabric of tlie Tower jet remaining. 
We see Newgate with its renovated walls upon the same spot. 
But we know these no longer as the receptacles of innocent indi- 
viduals suftering tor conscience sake. We have our courts ot law 
remaining ; but we see an order, a decorum, and an improvement 
in the administration of justice unkno^vn at the period of this 
memorable trial. Nor will the prospect be less grateful, if we quit 
the present for a moment and direct our eyes to the future. We 
have the best reason to hope, on contemplating the signs of the 
times*, that the day is ra|iidly approaching, when the Christian re- 
ligion, which is capable of cementing men in tite strongest possil)le 
union and for the noblest jjurposos, will be no longer the cause 
either of unnecessary division or of unmerited suftering. William 
Penn and William Mead, though acquitted by the Jury, continued 
in Newgate. They could not conscientiously pay the fines which 
had been imposed upon them ; and until tliese were paid they could 
not obtain. their dischaige. TLe Admiral beiuii, informed of this, 
and being particularly anxious to see his son, sent the money pri- 
vately, and thus procured the liberation of both of them. As to 
the poor Jurymen, who had been fined at the shmc time, I can no 
where learn what became of them, or how long they were allowed 
to languish in tlieir prison. 

The Admiral had been now long ill, and for some time confined 
to bis chamber. His constitution, in consequence of hard service, 
change of climate, and anxiety of n.ind, though he was not then 
fifty yearsof age, had be2;un to break, and t'lis so rapidly as to create 
in him an expectation of his approacliing cud. He wanted there- 
fore the conversation, kind offices, and consolation of his son. He 
had now a great regard for him. He hud always indeed set a due 
value on the goodness of his heart, and on his exemplary moral 
conduct, though he had diifercd from him on the score of relij^ion ; 
but when he saw a person of such qualities and character seized, 
imprisoned, and punished, he considered his treatm.ent in no other 
light than that of oppression, and therefore clave to him more than 
ever. I'esides, having no hope of his own recovery, be wished to 
confer with him as to the settlement of his family aiVairs. 

The more he saw of his son during his confinement, the more he 
esteemed him ; and the worse he grew in body, the more he became 
interested about bis temporal welfare. He was sensible, while his 
religious turn and resolution, and while the existing laws of tlie 
country remained, that he would have many trials and much suf- 
fering "to undergo. Impressed with this notion, he sent one of his 
friends to the Duke of York, to desire of him, as a death-bed re= 
quest, that he would endeavour to protect his son as far as he con- 

• I alUide to tiie voluntary repeal, on the part of gfovernment, last year, of tliis 
Tery Conventicle Act, and of the Five Miles Act ; also to an extension of privilege 
to Dissenters ; and particularly to those most noble institutions "The British and 
Foreigjn Auxiliary Bible Societies," the business of which is conducted by an equal 
•number of Churchmen and Dissenters acting harmoniously togethen. 



OF -WILLIAM PENN. ^ 

sistentlv could, and to ask the King to do the same, in case of futura 
persecution. The answer was gratifying, both of thtm promising 
their services on a fit occasion. 

After this he grew worse. At a time of serious reflection, and 
not long before his death, he spoke thus : '• ?son William, 1 am 
weary of the world ! 1 would not live over my days again, if I could 
command them with a wish ; for the snares of life are greater than 
the fears of death. This troubles me, that 1 have oft'euded a gra- 
cious God. The thouy;lit of this has followed me to this day. Oh, 
have a care of sin ! It is that \\ hich is the sting both of life and 
death. Three things I commend to you. First, let n<>thing in this 
world tempt you to wrong your conscience. I charge you do noth-. 
ing against your conscience; so will you keep peace at home,, 
which will be a feast to you in a day of trouble. Secondly, what- 
ever you design to do, lay it justly, and time it seasonably ; for 
that gives security and dispatch. Thirdly be not troubled at dis- 
appointments ; for if they may be recovered, do it : if they cannot, 
troulde is then vain. If you could not have helped it, be content; 
there is often peace and profit in submitting to Providence ; for af- 
flictions make wise. If you could have helped it. let not y out- 
trouble exceed instruction for another time. These rules will carry 
you with firmness and comfort through this inconstant world.*' 

At anotlier time he addressed his son in terms of complaint a- 
gainst the great profaneness an I impiety of tiie age. He lamented 
that manv of the nobility, and those in other respectable stations 
in life, should be so dissolute in their morals, and afford so griev- 
ous an example. He expressed his fear, too, lest his country, thus 
overwhelmed with corruption, should sink to ruin. 

He seemed to be never less concerned and disordered than just 
before he died. Looking at his son witli the most composed coun- 
tenance, he said, " Son William, if you and your friends keep to 
your plain way of preaching, and keep to your plain way of living, 
you will make an end of the priests to the end of the world. — Bury 
me by my mother-— Live all in love — 'Shun all manner of evil — and 
I pray God to bless you all j and he will bless you all.'* — Soou af- 
terwards he expired. 

These were some of the last expressions of Vice Admiral Sir 
Wdliam Penn. They are very important, on account of the in- 
struction they give us, as well as of the light thev throw upon his 
character. With respect to life, indeed, they afford us an import- 
ant le>son. They furnish a proof, tliat even where a man has been 
glutted with the honours of the world, it is so full of snares, and 
subject to so many drawbacks, that it is not worth living over a::ain. 
They lay open to us, again, the true path to be pursued in our pas-^ 
=a2;e through it. Tlie Admiral at length found, though he ttad been 
twice so grievouslv displeased with his son, that nothing could 
make a man amends for wronging his own conscience. With res- 
pect to his character, they show him to have had a mind ingenuous 
and open to conviction j for we see that tlie religious pnyudices 
M'hich he had imbibed in his youth had been succeeded by candour. 
They show him to have been a we'l disposed man ; or that, howev- 
er unwarrantable his conduct was to his son on certain occasions, 



46 i^IEMOlRS OF THE LlJE 

it was to be set down rather to s dden warmth of feeling, or to A 
temper suddenly irritable by unto ard circumstances, than to any 
badness of heart. x\nd here it ought to be recollected timt he had - 
been brought up as a uaval officer, and accustomed to undisputed 
command ; to a profession, where orders are no sooner issued than 
obedience is required, and slowness to execute is punished. Nei- 
ther mast it be forgotten Iiow grievous his disappointment must 
have been as a parent on these occasions. At the time alluded to 
he was in an exalted situation : he had great interest at Court; 
and he had probably notions of life and manners very diflerent from 
those which we have seen him entertain in his dying hour. He had 
figured out to himself large prospects for his son He could not 
but have had hopes of him from his education and his genius. He 
had seen him endued wit'ii talents sufficient to enable him to fill 
even the higher offices of State. How heart-breaking then must 
it have been, in such a situation, to see all his prospects at once 
broken ; to see his son mixing with the lo>vlv, the humble-minded, 
nay, the reputed dregs of the earth ; to see him uniting with a soci- 
ety whose very dress and manners, compared with his own, and 
those of the circles with which he mixeH. must have been repuls- 
ive ; and to see him leave the Established Church, the church of 
his family, and take up the opinions of those who were considered 
little better than fanatics ! 

William Penn. in consequence of the death of his fatlter came 
into the possession of a very handsome estate, supposed to he 
worth at that time not less than fifteen hundred pounds per an- 
num : so that he became, in point of circumstances, not only an 
indepen'lent, hut a rich man. 

One of his first employmt'nts, indeed immediate one, after his 
father's death, was to give to t'e world, for the benefit of posteri- 
ty, an account uf his late trial, ''e entitled it '"• The People's 
ancient ;'.nd just Liberties asserted in the Trial of William F«nn 
and William Mead, at the Sessions held at tie Old Cailey in Lon- 
don, on the first, third, foutth and fifth of September, 1670, against 
the most arbitrary Procedure of that Court." He detailed, first, 
the proceedings of the Court on those days. He gave, secondly, 
*' An Appendix, bv wav of Defence for the Prisoners, or what 
might have been offered against the Indictment and illegal pro- 
cee'iings of the Court thereon, had it not violently over-ruled and 
stopped tliem." He entered, thirdly, into " A Rehearsal of the 
material Articles of the Great Charter of Kngland," and " A Con- 
firmation of the Charters and Liberties of England and of the For- 
est by Edward the First." He then introduced " The Curse and 
Sentence issued bv the Kishons and Clergy against the Breakers 
of these Articles," the latter of which he explained both historic- 
ally and argumentatively, so that t^•ey wh . read it might have a 
clearer knowledge of their own privileges and lights. He conclud- 
ed, for their further information, by a Postscript, containing '• A 
Copy of .Judge Reeling's Case, as taken out of the Parliament 
Journal, dated the eleventh of December. 1667." 

Not lonsj after the publication of this trial, a circumstance took 
place, which brought him before the public again. A Baptist 



OF WILLIAM PENNo 41 

preacher at HigTi Wyoomb in Buckinghamshire, of the name of 
Ives, had reflected in his own meeting-house in the pulpit, not on- 
ly upon the Quakers in general, but upon William Penn in partic- 
ular. This coming to the ears of the latter, he insisted upon it, and 
it was at length finally agreed, that a meeting should be lield at 
West Wycomb between the parties concerned, wheie the obnox- 
ious parts of the Quakers' doctrines should become matter of pub- 
lic dispute : he himself was to be the disputant in behalf of his own 
society, and Jeremy Ives on the part of the Baptists. Jeremy, 
however, was not the person, but tlie brother of the person, who 
had made the reflections above alluded to, the oftender himself 
being thought unequal to the controversy. 

The position to be maintained on the part of the Quakers was 
the universality of the Divine Light. The Baptists were to speak 
against it. According to the laws of dispute then in force upon 
such occasions, it devolved upon Jeremy to speak first. He began 
accordingly, and went on boldly till he had expended all the argu- 
ments he had brought with him ; when finding from appearances 
that his auditors were not as well satisfied as he expected, he 
stepped down suddenly from his seat, and left the place. In doing 
this, he indulged a hope that his example would have been general- 
ly followed. But he was sorely disappointed ; for a small number 
only, who were immediately of his own party, withdrew, while 
the great bulk of the audience remained. To these William Penn 
then addressed himself. In what he advanced he experienced nei- 
ther intenuption nor opposition. Solar he may be said to have 
triumphed. But he triumphed in another respect; for Jeremy, 
when he found that his hearers continued in their places, was so 
mortified, that he returned, and injudiciously expressed his disap- 
probation of their conduct ,; the consequence of which was, that 
they in their turn expressed their dislike of him. At this contro- 
versy Thomas Ellwood, one of the early Quakers, and a pupil of 
the great John Milton, was present, M'ho sent an account of it to a 
friend in these lines, written extempore on the spot : 

" Pi jevaluit Veritas : inimici terga dedere : 
Nos sumus in tuto : laus tribuenda Deo." 

The literal translation of this, which I have attempted in bad 
poetry, is the following : 

" Truth has prevail'd : the foe his back has shown : 
Thank God ! we're safe : the praise is his alone. 

William Penn soon after tliis controversy took a sliort journey, 
in the course of which it happened that he stopped at Oxford. 
Learning there that several oi the members of his own society had 
been treated with great cruelty by the students on account of their 
religious meetings, and having reason to believe that the V^ice- 
Chancellor himself was not blameless in that respect, he addressea 
to him a letter, of which I copy for its singularity the introductory 
sentence ! 

F 



4S MEMOniS OF THE LIFE 

" Shall the multiplied oppressions, which thou confinuest to 
heap upon innocent Kn2;lish people for their peaceable reli<^ious 
meetings, pass unveganleJ by the Eternal God ? Dost thou think 
to escape his fierce wrath and dreadful vengeance for thy ungodly 
and illegal persecutions of his poor children? I tell thee, No. 
Better were it for thee thou liadst never been born. Poor mush- 
room, wilt thou v.'ar against the Lord, and lift up thyself in kattle 
against the \lmighty ? Canst thou frustiale his holy piu poses, and 
bring his determinations to nought ? He has decreed to exalt him- 
self by us, and to propagate Ids Gospel to the ends of the earth." 

Never perhaps before were the learning and dignity of a Vice- 
Chancellor of Oxford, as appears by this extract, so little thou;;;ht 
of, or a Vice-Chancellor of that university looked down upon with 
such sovereign contempt, as on this occasion by William Penn. 
To most people the languag:> of this letter will be unaccountable. 
It must be remarked, however, that the early Quakers paid but lit- 
tle deference to human learning, and tbat at this very time they 
were at variance with the Universities concerning it, denying it to 
be an essential qualilication for the priesthood. It must be re- 
marked also, that honouring those ordinations of men, and those 
only, to the sacerdotal office, wliich were considered to be sealed 
in their hearts by the Divine Spirit, they allowed no dignity to be- 
long to ordinations m hich were the mere wjuk of the hands of men. 
We must rememl)er also, what has been before noticed, their belief 
that they had a divine commission, in consequence of which, by 
preaching and bearing t''eir testimony against religious ceremonies 
ond worldly fashions, they were to become instruments in puri- 
fying the rest of mankind. Hence they spoke with an authority 
not usual with others. To these considerations v/c must add, that the 
treatment which the poor Quakers had then received at Oxford, 
■was enough to excite anger in any feeling mind, and that Williara 
Penn himself was still sore, if I may so speak, of his old wounds ; 
for it was but a few weeks since he had left the bale-rlock of New- 
gate prison, the loathsomeness of v/hici) he had experienced in con- 
sequence of the unjust interference of some formerly belonging to 
this vpry university, and who were then at the head of the Estab- 
lished Church. 

Having finished his journey, he retired to theancientfamily seat 
of Penn in Buckinshauishire. Here a pamphlet falling in his way, 
which contained the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith, he wrote 
in answer to it, •' A seasonable Caveat against Popery ; or. An 
ExplaiMtiow of the Roman Catholic Belief briefly examined."' He 
attempted in this work to refute certain doctrines of the church of 
Rome, namely, such as related to the Scriptures — ^the Trinity — 
prayers to sa-nts and anire's— justification of merits — the holy Eu- 
charist — communion in one kind — the sacrifice of the altar — 
prayer in T/atin—.prayer for the dead — the moral law of obedience 
to civil magistrates — and ecclesiastical hierarchy. Ttmust be ob- 
served, however, that thou/h he was severe against the Catholics 
as to their doct"ine on these points, he vras a decided enemy to all 
per i^cv.fion -if fhom on that acco'-nt. He allowed in his preface to 
this work, that a great number of them might be abused zealot& 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 



through the idle voluminous traditions of their church, whom he 
rather pitied than dari'd to n-vang ; and tliat, in givin*^ tins his 
seasonable caveat to the public, nothing was further from his in- 
tention than to incense the civil magistrate against them : for he 
professed \\h\\)nit\{ a frlcul to universal toleration offaitli. and tec:'' 
s/a;;, so that he would have had such toleration extended even is 
them, provided Ihej/ would give security that they ivould notjyerse- 
cute otners on the Same score. 

About the latter end of the year he returned to London, when 
an occurrence, which shortly after happened, subjected him to new 
suffering; for preaching at a meeting-house belonging to the Qua- 
kers in Whee'Mf-street. a sergeant with a military guatd, which 
had been pasted near the door on purp(»se. pulled him dovvu from 
his place, and farced him into t!ie street. Here a constable and. 
his assistant. wJu) weie ready also, joined the soldiers, and these 
conducted him to the Tower. He liad not been there long, when 
he was brought before Sir John Robinson, then lieutenant of the 
same, (by whose order be had been apprehended.) to be examined. 
This was the same John Robinson, who has been before mention- 
ed as sitting upon the bench as a magistrate during the late memo- 
rable t)ial at th.^ Old Bailey Tliere were present on this occa- 
sion Sir Samuel Starling, another of his old persecutors. Sir John 
Shelden. Colonel Ricraft, and others. The constable aud Ins as- 
sistant Vvert" then sworn. 'J'hey deposed that William Penn, the 
prisoner, was at a mf cting in VVheeler-street. speaking to the peo- 
plv, but t\.ey would not swear to an unlawftd assembly. Their 
refusal to do this very much mortified Sir John Rob nson, for he 
had relied upon the Conventicle Act for his convicti(>n. Being 
obliged to give this up. he fled to the Oxford Act ; but William 
Penn showed clearly, that neither did he come under this act, nor 
had he transgre'^scd any wriiten law. This defence of himself in 
the presenc*' of so many persons, by whic'i it appeared that he 
could not be h',i:;ally detained in custody, so chagrined Robinson, 
that, when he found he could not punish him on one account, he 
resolved to do it on another- Determining not to be overcome in 
the end, be offered him, as the oM custom was in tl'.ose days when 
a magistiate was unable to convict a Quaker on the ground of his 
appiehension, tiie oath of allegiance, knowing beforehand that he 
could not take it consistently with his religious scruples,and yet that 
a refusal to take it, when legally offered, was imprisonment by law. 
He knew also that the very oath, which he thus offered him was 
unnecessary ; for if the Quakers could nijt conscientiously take up 
arms against the enemies of their country, much less could they 
take them up against their Kino. William Penn accordingly re- 
fused to take it, giving his reasons at the same time for so doing. 
But no !-ea«oning could avail \vi(h Robinson. He still pressed the 
oath. AVilliam Penn still rejt'cted it. The following are some of 
the questions and answers which were then put and given. 
Sir ./. RcMnson.' — Ho you yet refuse to swear ? 
W. Venn. — Yes. and that upon better grounds than those for which 
thou vvouldst lyive me swear, if thou wilt please to hear me. 



44 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Sir J. Rohmson.-^l am sorry you sliould put me upon this severi- 
ty : it is no pleasant work to me. 
W. Pemi. — These are but words : it is manifest that this is a pre- 
pense malice ; thou hast several times laid the meetings for 
me, and this day particularly. 
Sir J. If ofcijisow.— No. I profess I could not tell you would be 

there, 
W. Penn.— Thine OAvn corporal told me you had intelligence at 
the Tower, that 1 would be at Wheeler-street to-day, almost 
as soon as 1 knew it myself. It is disingenuous and partial. 
1 never gave thee occasion for such unkindness. 
Sir J. liobinson. — I knew no such thing ; but if I had, I confess I 

should have sent for you. 
W. Penn. — I hat might have been spared ; 1 do heartily believe it. 
Sir J. linbiyison.—l vow, Mr. Penn, 1 am sorry for you : you are 
an ingenious gentleman ; all the world must allow you and 
do allow you that : and you have a plentiful estate : Avhy 
should you render yourself unhappy by associating with such 
a simple people i' 
W. Perm.— A confess I hare made it my choice to relinquish the 
company of those that are ingeniously wicked, to converse 
with those that are more honest!}^ simple. 
Sir J. liobimon. — I w ish you wiser. 
7F. Penn. — And I wish thee better. 
Sir J. Robinson. — You have been as bad as other folks. 
W^. Penn. — When and where .^ 1 charge thee to tell the company 

to my face. 
Sir J. liobinson. — Abroad and at home too. 

Upon this John Shelden, hurt at the reflection cast upon the 
character of William Penn. interfered, crying out, " No, no, Sir 
John, that's too much." William Penn also upon hearing it was 
set as it were on fire. Conscious that he had endeavoured from 
early youth to lead a life of purity, he could no longer contain him- 
self, hut broke out at once into this impassioned appeal : " 1 make 
this bold challenge to all men, women, and children upon earth, 
justly to accuse me with having seen me drunk, heard me swear, 
utter a curse, or speak one obscene word, much less that I ever 
made it my practice. 1 speak this to God's glory, who has ever 
preserved me from the power of these pollutions, and who from 
a child begot an hatred in me towards them. But there is 
nothing more common, than when men are of a more severe life 
than ordinaiy, for loose persons to comfort themselves with the 
conceit, that these were once as they themselves are ; and as if 
there were no collateral or oblique line of the compass or globe, 
from which men might be said to come to the arctic pole, but di- 
rectly and immediately fiom the antarctic. Thy words shall be 
thy burtlien, and I trample tiiy slander as dirt under my feet." 

After this the conversation was renewed for some time, when 
Sir John Robinson informed him. that he must send him to New- 
gate for six months, and that, when these were expired, he might 
come out. To this William Penn immediatelyreplied, " And is 



OF WILLIAM PfeNUT. 45 

that all ? Thou well knowest a larger imprisonment has not daunt- 
ed uie. I accept it at the hand of the Lord, and am contented to 
Slitter his will. Alas ! you mistake your interest ! This is not the 
way to c(mipiiss your ends. I would have thee and all men know, 
t'>.at I scorn that religion whicli is not worth suffering for and able 
to sustain tliose that are afflicted for it. Thy religion persecutes, 
and mine forgives. I desire Goil to forgive you all that are con- 
cerned in my commitment, and 1 leave you all in periect charity, 
wishing your everlasting salvation " 

Directly after this he was escorted by a corporal and a file of 
musqaeteers to Newgate, there to expiate by six months imprison- 
ment tiie crime of having relused to take the oath which had been 
offered to him. 



CHAPTER VII. 

.9. 'iGTl'—iorites, while in JVeit\s;ate, to the High Court of Parlia- 
m nt — to the Sheriffs of Ltmdun — to a Roman Catholic — •publish- 
es " ./3 cautionary Postscript to Tri'the.valted'^ — " Truth rescued 
from Imposture'' — " »^ serums Apology for the Principles and 
Practice of the Quakers'- — ' The great Case of Liberty of Con- 
science debated and defended'- — general contents of the latter — ■ 
comes out of prison — travels into Holland and Germany. 

While he was in Newgate he had ample employmeiit for his pen. 
Understanding tiiat Parliament was about to take measures to en- 
force the Con\enticle Act with still greater severity, he addressed 
a paper to that body in behalf of himself and friends, in which he 
stated in substance, that though the Quakers could not comply with 
tiiose laws which ])ro!ubited them from worshipping God according 
to their consciences, it bt;ing the prerogative of Him alone to pre- 
side in all matters of religious faith ; yet they owned civil govern- 
ment as God's ordinance, and were ready to yield obedience to it 
in all temporal matters, and tliis for conscience sake ; that they 
renounced all plots and conspiracies, as horrible impiety ; and 
that, as they had conducted themselves patiently and peaceably 
under all the changes of the government that had taken place since 
their first appearance as a society, so it was tiu'ir determination 
to continue in t!ie same path. He concluded by expressing a hope, 
that Parliament, before it proceeded to exttemities, would give 
them a free hearing, as it had done upon the first Act for uniform- 
ity, an<l that, upon a better knowledge of them as a people, it 
would remove their bard burthens. 

He wrote two letters about the same time ; one to the Sheriflfs of 
London, callinji- their attention to t!ie keeper of Newgate prison, 
Avho had been abusive to some of the society, then in confinement 
there, on account of their religion ; aii4 another to a Roman CatliOr 



46 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

lie, who, havingbeen offended with his " Seasonable Caveat against 
Popery," had replied to him with considerable warmth. 

He wrote and published also during his confinement the four 
following works :— " A cautionary Postscript to Truth exalted." 
" Truth rescued from Imposture ; or, A Brief Reply to a mei-e 
Rhapsody of Lyes, Folly, and Slander, but a pretended Answer 
to the Trial of William Penn and vVilliam Mead." — ■" A. serious 
Apology for the Principles and Practices of the People called Qua- 
kers, against the malicious Aspersions, erroneous Ditctrines antl 
horrid Blasphemies of Thomas Jenner and Timothy Tayler, two 
Presbyterian Preachers, in their Book entitled Quakerism Anat- 
omized." — ^" The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience once more 
briefly debated and defended by tlie Authority of Reason, Scrip- 
ture, and Antiquity." — Of the first three I shall make no further 
mention ; but with respect to the fourth, considering the vast im- 
portance of the subject, I should feel myself culpable if I were not 
to say a few words concerning its contents. 

In the first place I may observe of this book, that it was written 
Tipon the same ground as the paper which v/e have just seen him 
address to the Parliament ; namely, because the said Parliament 
^vere then going to bring in a new bill, or one more severe than the 
former, against those who dissented from tlie EstMblished Church. 
It began with an address to " The Supreme Authority of Eng- 
land," of which the following is a ropy : 

" Toleration for these ten years past has not been more the cry 
of some, than Persecution has licen the practice of others, though 
not on grounds equalbj rationaL 

'• The present cause of this address is to scsiicit a conversion of 
that power to our relief, which hitherto has been employed to our 
depiession ; that after this large experience of our innocency and 
long since expired apprenticeship of cruel sufferings you will be 
pleased to cancel all our bonds, and give us a possession of those 
freedoms to which we are entitled b;/ English birth-right. 

"This has been often promised to us, and we as earnestly have 
expected the performance ;bi't to this time we labour under the 
unspeakable pressure of nasty prisons, and daily confiscation of 
our goods, to the apparent ruin of entire families. 

" We would not attribute the whole of this severity to malice, 
since not a little share may justlv be ascribed to misintelligence* 

" For 'tis the infelicity of governors to see and hear by t\\(!', eyes 
and ears of other men ; which is equally unhappy for i\\Q people. 

" And we are bold to say, that suppositions and mere conjec- 
tures have been the best measures that most have taken of us and 
of our principles ; for, whilst there have been none more inoffen- 
sive, we have been marked for capital offenders. 

" 'Tiahard that we should aUvays lie under this undeserved im- 
putation, and, which is worse, be persecuted as such without the 
liberty of a just defence. 

" In short, if you are appreliensive that our principles are incon- 
sistent with the civil government, grant us a free conference about 
the points in question, and let us knov/ what are those laws essen- 



OF WllLIAM TENK. 47 

tial to preservation that our opinions carry an opposition to : and 
if, upon a due inquiry, we are found so heterodox as represented, 
it will be then but time enough to intlict these heavy penalties up- 
on us. 

" And as this medium s-ems the fairest and most reasonable, so 
can ye never do yourselves greater justice either in the vindica- 
tion of your proceedings against us, if we be criminal, or, if inno- 
cent, in disengaging your service of such as have been the authors 
of so much misinformation. 

" But could v.c once obtain the favour of such debate, we doubt 
not to evince a clear consistency of our life and doctrine with the 
English Government ; and that an indulging of Dissenters in the 
sense defended is not only most christian and rational, but pru- 
dent also; and the contrary, however plausibly insinuated, the 
most injurious to the peace, and destructive of that discreet bal- 
ance, which the best and wiseststates have ever carefully observed. 

"But if this fair and equal offer find not a place with you on 
which to rest its foot, much less that it should bring us back the 
olive-branch of Toleration, we heartily embrace and bless the 
Providence of God, and in bis strength resolve by patience to out • 
weary persecution, and by our constant sufferings seek to obtain a 
victory more glorious than any our adversaries can achieve by all 
their cruelties.'' 

This excellent address was followed by a preface. He began 
the latter by observing, that, if the friends of persecution were men 
of as much reason as they counted themseWes to be, it would be 
unnecessary for him to inform them, tliat no eorternal coercive pow- 
er could convince the understanding, neither could fines and im- 
frisonments be judged/f and adequate ptnalties {ov faidts furely 
intellectual He maintained the folly of coercive measures on 
such occasions on another a^ count ; for the enaction of such laws 
as restrained persons from the free exercise of their consciences 
in matteis of religion was but the knotting of ichipcord on the 
part of the enactors to lafsh their oivnposteriiij, ivhom they coidd 
never promise to be caufurmedfor ages to come to a rmtional reli' 
gion. He then derined liberty of conscience to.be " the free and 
uninterrupted exercise of our consciences in that way of worship 
we were most clearly persuaded God required of us to serve him 
in, without endangering our undoubted birthright of English free- 
doms, which being matter of faith we sinned if we omitted, and 
they could do no less who should endeavour it. After this he 
showed how this liberty of conscience bad been invaded by th« 
plundering and oppressing of those vvho had used it; and conclud- 
ed by pronouncing that, if such desolation were allowed to coiitin- 
ue, the state must inevitably proceed to its own decay. 

Having finished the preface, he went to the body of the wot-k, 
which consisted of six chapters. But here I find it impossible for 
want of room to detail the contents of these. The reader there- 
fore must be satisfied with the following account. He coincided, 
he said, with many, in considering tlie union (for the oppressive 
bill in question) " to be very ominous and utib.appy, which made 
the first discovery of itself by a John Baptist's head in a charter; 



4$ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

by a feast to be made upon the liberties and properties of free-bom 
Englishmen ; for to cut off tlie entail of their undoubted hereditary 
rights, on account of matters purely relative to anot! e.- woi id, was 
a. severe beheading in the law. He then luaiiitiiined that tliev, who 
imposed fetters upon the conscience and persecuted Tor causcience 
sake, defeated God's work of grace, or the invisible oper.it.on of 
his holy Spirit, which could alone beget faith ; that the> chiimecl 
infallibility, which all good Protestants rejected; and that they 
usurped the divine prerogative, assuming the judgment of the 
Great Tribunal, and thereby robbini!;the Almighty of a -igbt , hich 
belonged exclusively to himscif that they overthrew the (^chris- 
tian religion in the very nature of it, for it was spiritual, and not 
of this world ; in the very practice of it, for this consisted of meek- 
ness ; in the promotion of it, for it was clear that they never de- 
signed to be better themselves, and they discouraged others in their 
religious growth ; and in the rewards of it, for where men were re- 
ligious out of fear, and this out of the fear of men. their religion 
•was condemnation and not peace that they opposed the plain- 
est testimonies of divine writ, which concurred in condemni'ig till 

force upon the conscience that they waged war against t'le 

privileges of nature, by exalting themselves and enslaving their 
fellow-creatures ; by rendering null and void the divine instinct or 
principle in man, which was so natural to him, that he could le no 
more without it and be, than he could be without the most essen- 
tial part of himself (for where would be t!ie use of this principle, 
if it were regulated by arbitrary power ?), and by destroying all 

natural affection that tliey were enemies to the noble principle 

of reason that they acted contrary to all true notions of gov- 
ernment, first, as to the nature of it, which was justice ; secondly, 
as to the execution of it, which was prudence ; and, thirdly, as to 

the end of it, which was happiness. Having discussed these 

several points, be proceeded td answer certain objections, which 
he supposed might be made to some of the positions he had ad-/ 
vanced, and concluded by attempting to show, by means of a 
copious appeal to history, that they who fettered the consciences 
of others and punished for conscience sake, reflected upon the 
sense and practice'of the wisest, greatest, and best of men both of 
ancient and modern times. 

When he had finished the above works the time for his libera- 
tion from prison approached. This having taken place, he travel- 
led into Holland and Germany. His object was to spread the 
doctrines of his own religious society in these parts. Of the par- 
ticulars of his travels we have no detailed account. We know 
only that he was reported to have been successful, and that he con- 
tinued employed on the same errand during the remainder of the 
year. 



«ff WILLIAM PE«N« 49 



CHAPTER VIIL 



»2!. 16r£ — returns to England — marries — settles at Rickmansworth 
— travels as apreache) — writes " The Spirit of Truth vindicat- 
ed''^ — '^ The neiv fVitnesses proved old Heretics'^ — *' Plain heal- 
ing ivith a traducing AnahaptisV- — "*!/ ^Finding Sheet for the 
Coniroversy ended^^ — '' Quakerism a new JVick-name for old 
Christianity" — letter to Dr. Hasbert. 

William Penn, after his return from the Continent, entered 
into the married state. He was then in the twenty-eighth year of 
his age. He took for his wife Gulielma Maria Springett, daughter 
of Sir William Springett of Darling in Sussex, who had fallen at 
the siege of Bamber, during the civil wars, in the service of the 
Parliament. She nas esteemed an extraordinary woman, and not 
morelovely on account of the heauty of her person than of the sweet- 
ness of her disposition. After their marriage they took up their 
residence at Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire. 

It must be obvious that William Penn, now married and settled, 
and in the possession of an abundant fortune, might have Jed the 
life of a gentleman of leisure. But he had entered upon the im- 
portant office of a minister of the Gospel. This therefore kept 
him in no inconsiderable employ ; for meetings (or worship were 
then held at one place or another (many ministers travelling) al- 
most every day in the week. The disputes too in the religious 
world, which obtained in these times, and in which the Quakers 
were engaged, called him frequently forth as an author. Of these 
disputes the following were conjoint and fruitful causes. In the 
preceding year Charles the Second had issued a declaration of in- 
dulgence to tender consciencess in matters of religion, in conse- 
quence of which not less than five hundred Quakers had been re- 
leased from prison. This indulgence was extended also to Dis- 
senters at large. Now one would have thought that the leaders of 
the difterent religious sects, all of which had felt the iron hand of 
persecution, would have enjoyed this respite in solacing each oth- 
er, and enlarging the boundaries of love between them. But far 
otherwise was the fact. Enjoying .the sunshine of the King's in- 
dulgence, and feeling a liberty to which they had not been accus- 
tomed, many of them began to grow bold, and to have a longing to 
venture out into controversy. Thus, when man bas been lorded 
over, he feels too generally a disposition to play the tyrant himself. 
In this situation, however, they did not dare to attack the Church. 
Now it happened at this time that the great body of the Dissenters 
were well affected towards the Quakers ; for, first, the Quakers 
never skulking under persecution, but worshipping at regular times, 
and this openly in their own meeting-houses, and on the very ruins 
of the same when they were destroyed, were always to be found by 
the civil magistrate ; and, secondly, the number to be so found was 
sufficient to glut the most insatiable executioners of the law. Fiom 
these two causes the Quakers helped to bear off the blow, or to 
G 



50 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

kpep the great foree of tlie stroke, from the other Dissenters* 
Hence the latter, and particularly the Baptists, began to be attach- 
ed to them ; and this attachment became at length such, that many 
le t their own particular societies and joined them. The leaders 
then of several of the religious sects, finding their congregations 
growing less by such def ctions, and feeling that the fetters were 
in some measure taken from their arms by the Kinij's indulgence, 
thought they could not use their liberty better than by trying to 
crush the Quakers. Hence many publications appeared against 
the latter, which had been otherwise unknown. Placed then as 
William Penn was in one or other of the occupations which have 
been mentioned, that is, either in that of a public preacher or a 
controversial writer in behalf of his own society, he had but little 
time left him for repose during the present year. 

The firat instance of industry which we find in him as a minis- 
ter of the Gospel after his marriage, was on the Midsummer foUow- 
ing,'when he traversed three counties in that capacity, Kent, Sus- 
sex, and 3urry, and this with such rapidity, that he preached to no 
less than twenty-one different congregations of people, and some of 
these at considerable distances the one from the other, in twenty-one 
days. This must have been no easy performance, considering the 
comparative paucity and state of the roads at this period. 

As an author we find him equally indefatigable. An anonymous 
writer had published " The Spirit of the Quakers tried." This was 
one of the works alluded to which first roused him, and he answer- 
ed it by " The Spirit of Truth vindicated." 

John Morse, a preacher at Watford, having written against him 
in particular, and the Quakers in general, he repelled the attack by 
" Plain Dealing with a traducing Anabaptist." 

" Controversy Ended" soon followed, which was the produc- 
tion of Henry Hedworth, another preacher, and which was of a 
similar stamp with the former. His answer to this paper was con- 
tained in " A Winding Sheet for Controversy Ended." 

John Faldo, an Independent preacher near Barnet, finding that 
some of his hearers had gone over to the Quakers, was greatly in- 
censed, and gave vent to his anger by writing a book, which he 
called " Quakerism no Christianity." This very soon attracted 
the notice of William Penn, and, as a reply to it, " Quakerism a 
new Nickname for old Christianity" followed. 

About this time Reeve and Muggleton made a great noise in the 
religious world by pretending to wonderful revelations received 
immediately from Heaven. Reeve, who compared himself to Mo- 
ses, asserted that he was ordered to communicate his new system 
to Muggleton, whom he likened to Aaron. William Penn, to ex- 
pose the doctrine of these, published " The new Witnesses proved 
old Heretics." 

There is a letter extant, which he wrote t'iis year to Dr. Has- 
bert, a physician at Embdcn in Germany, whom he had found, on 
his late tour to the Continent, rpa-ly to em'>race the religious prin- 
ciples of the Quakers. This lette'" was me ely to encourage and 
strengthen him to pursue the path he had taus taken. 



OF WILLIAM PENN. ■5i 



CHAPTER IX. 



^. iSTS—^travels as a minister — writes " The Christian Qwcrft-er" 
•—also " Reason against Railing and Truth against Fiction^''>-~ 
also " The Counterfeit Christian detected'''' — holds a public con- 
troversy with the Baptists at Barbican — -his account of it to G. 
Fo.v — writes'^ i'he Invalidity of John Faldo^s Vindication''^-— 
also '• J return to J. FMo^s UepUf — also " A just Rebuke to 
sue -and -twenty learned and reverend Divines^'' — encomium of Dr. 
Moore on the latter — ivrites " Wisdom justified of her ihildrenP 
and Urim and Thummim''^ — and against John Perrot — and ' On 
the general Rule of Faith,''^ and on " The proposed Comprehen- 
sion^'—'ulso six Letters — extract from that to Justice Fleming. 

William Penn continued to be employed as in the preceding 
year. As the sprint; advanced he undertook a journey to the 
western parts of the kingdom, in which he was joined by George 
Whitehead. Travelling as ndnisters of the Gospel, they spread 
their principles as tiiey went along. GulieUna Maria Penn accom- 
panied her husband on t'lis ( ccasion. When they came to Bristol^ 
it was the time of the great fiiir. It happened unexpectedly, that 
they were joined by Geor^^e Fox, the founder of their religious so- 
ciet}'. He had just landed from a vessel, which had brought him 
frmn Maryland in America, whither he had gone si me months he- 
fore on a religious errand. All the parties staid at Bristol during 
the fair, and, uniting their religious labours, they brought over ma- 
ny to their persuasion. 

As a writer, tiiere was no end of his employment this year. 
The first who called him forth was Thomas Hicks, a Baptist preach- 
er in London. Alarmed, like those mentioned in the preceding 
civapter, at the defection of many of his congregation, this person 
began his attack upon the Quakers by writing a Dialogue between 
a Christian and a Quaker, which he forged so well, that many con- 
sidered it not as a fiction, but as a discourse which had actually 
taken place between the parties described. By making, too, his 
Quaker say every thing that was weak and silly, he paved the way 
for such answers from his Christian as ensured the victory on his 
own side. This publication being such, William Penn could not 
but notice it ; and he brought out accordingly •' The Christian Qua- 
ker and his divine Testimony vindicated," by way of reply. 

This work contained an explicit statement of the religious 
creed of the Quakers in those points vhich were then matter of 
controversy between them and those of Hicks's persuasion. The 
great subject of it was theLi<i;litof Christ within, which he handled 
thus. He began by explaining what this Light was, calling it a- 
mong other things The Principle of God in Man, and asserting it to 
be the same as the TVord, Spirit. Life. Light. Seed, Truth, as 

used in the holy Scriptures. This Light manifested and reproved 

sin and led to salvation ; to salvation, first, from sin, and, secondly, 
from the wrath to come.—- — The argument that raeu were wicked 



SSr MEMOIRS QF. THE^X.XF)E 

notwithstanding they had this Light within them, was no more an ar- 
gument against its existence, than that men were wicked was an ar- 
gument against the existence of the Scriptures, which also thej had in 

tlieir posession. Neither, because all matters were not revealed 

by it. was this an argument against its sufficiency. As this Light 

had manifested and reproved sin and led to salvation since the 
coming of Christ, so it had performed the same offices before 5 name- 
ly— fiom Adam trnough all the patriarchs and prophets and as 

the Jews had a certain measure of this Light, so had the Gentiles 

also. This was manifest from the tenets of their Avise men, who 

acknowledged one God ; who believed that the same God had im- 
printed the knowledge of himself on the minds of all mankind; that 
it became men to live piously ; that the soul Avas immortal, and that 
tiere was an eternal recompense ; tenets which were professed by 
Orpheus, Hesiod, Thales, Sybilla, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Anax- 
agnras, Socrates, Timseus, Antisthenes, Plato, Zeno, Chrysippus, 
Antipater, Bias, Sophocles, Menander, Cliilon, Pittacus and many 

others. This was the Gentile divinity; and though Jews and 

Christians bad the advantage of the Gentiles in the measure of this 
Light, yet the latter had sufficient for their own salvation. — Some 
of them had a light of the coming of Christ — Christ was this Light 

according to the Scriptures. It was no argument against this, 

that he was not so called either by Jews or Greeks — nor was it an 
argument against J his, that he was typified to come, Avhen he was 
come before — nor did a belief that Christ was this Liglit in man 
invalidate his life, death, or resurrection, or the doctrine that he 

bore our iniquities, or that men were redeemed by his blood. As 

Christ then v/as the Light within, so this Light had been given 

without exception, that is, to mankind universally.' It had been 

given to them also in a measure sufficient for their salvation and 

all those who obeyed it forsook their evil ways, and became trans- 
formed in their lives cind characters. 

These were simply the heads of the work, in which he conducted 
himself with great dignity; for instead of launching out against 
Hicks in terms of severity, he no where mentioned his name, but 
satisfied liimself with giving a compendium of the principles of his 
own society in those points which were then at issue between them, 
leaving him and others to compare tlie substance of it with that of 
the Dialogue in question. 

In a short time after this. Hicks produced another pubHcation. 
It was a continuation of the same Dialogue by the addition of a 
second part. It is remarkable that he took no notice whatever in 
this of" The Christian Quaker and his Divine Testimony vindi- 
cated." This unfair treatment oftended William Penn, who im- 
mediately attacked him by opposing to his Dialogue, a little work, 
which he called " Reason against IJtailing and Truth against Fic- 
tion." But Hicks was not even yet silenced ; for he resumed his 
operations against the Quakers, by adding a third part to the Dia- 
logue. The part nov/ meiitioned, when published, produced from 
William Penn. in return, " The Counterfeit Christian detected, 
and the Real Quaker justified." Hicks after this appeared no more 
n print, The controversy, however, did not end here ; for he had 



OF A7ILLIAM F£KN. ,5^ 

fabricated SO many falsehoods respecting the Quakers, that they ap- 
pealed as a society to the Baptists themselves against him ; In con-, 
sequence of whicli a meeting was appointed at Barbican, where 
both parties might be heard. But it was fixed so as to take place in 
the absence of George Whitehead and William Penn, who, it was 
known, were then travelling; sothatgre t attendance having been 
procured on one side, and there being but little on the other, Hicks 
was declared by a majority of voices to be accpitted. 

These proceedings were soon sent to \^'illiam Penn, who on re- 
ceiving them hastened to London. On his arrival there, he 
laid his complaint before the public in a printed paper, and de- 
manded anotlier nieeting of the Baptists, in Avhich the grievances, 
of the Quakers might be heard. The paper was called "• William. 
Penn'sjust Complaint against, and solemn Offer of a public Meet- 
ing to, the leading Baptists." This demand after much opposition, 
was complied with, and a second meeting appointed. When the' 
parties met, there was much noise and rioting. The Baptists M'ere, 
clamorous against " Tlie Christian Quaker and his divine Testi- 
mony vindicated." — " If." cried they, '* Christ was the Light with- 
in, where was his manhood ?^^ and they made so much noise, that, 
they obliged as it vv^ere the Quakers to sustain a controversy on thia 
point. This having been acceded to, the tumult subsided, and the 
meeting passed into silence, decorum, and good order. 

1 can no where find any printed account of this controversy ; but 
ts there is extant the fragment of a very curious letter written by 
William Penn to George Fox on this occasion, I shall make an ex- 
tract from its contents. " Thy fatherly love," says he, " and ten- 
der care 1 do v/itli all gentleness and true respect receive ; but thou 
slialt understand tlie occasion of our answer, wherein we stated 
that ' t!ie holy manhood was a member of the Christ of God.' 

" TI.e question Avas, ' If the manhood were a part of Christ r' 
To this we must cither have answered not!ung,oronly a Scripture, 
cr in the terms of the question, or as we did, 

" If we had answered nothing, we had gratified the enemy, stum- 
bled the moderate, and grieved friends. 

'• If a Scripture, it had been no way satisfactory ; for tlie ques- 
tion, they would have said, was not about the text, but about the 
understanding of it ; and they would have charged us witii so wrest- 
ing it to a mystical sense, as to shut out the person th.at appeared 
in the flesh ; so that, if we had answered theminany of those Scrip- 
tures, they would have asked, in all probability, Wliat man do you 
mean .^ the spiritual and heavenly man } the new creature or crea- 
tion ? or that outward man. that was outwardly born of the Virgin 
in Palestine, and was tliere outwardly crucified .^ If we had said 
No, we had been lost. That they would have put a mystical con- 
struction on our words, if we had not answered them plainly ; that 
is, by what we understood by tlie Scripture rather tlian by the Scrip- 
ture itself. 1 have cause to believe, because tie same person that 
pronosed the question thus expounded, after the meeting, our be- 
lief in Christ, '* that he was born of a virgin, that is, of a virgin- 
nature and spirit ; curified. that is. slain by sin in us ; rose, that is, 
rose up to rule us, and the like,'~-.making tJie people believe, that 



84 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFK 

•we denied that person, that outwardly appeared, to be the true 
Christ. 

*' Further, if we had answered in the terms of the question, we 
liad taken Christ into parts, whereas I cried twice to them,' Christ 
is not to be divided into parts.' But they still pressed the ques- 
tion, six thousand people, I believe, being present, and many of 
them were desirous of an imswer. Upon this. Friends consented 
that it should be answered thein, ' that tlie manhood was a part of 
Christ.' But I feared tlie word part^ and chose rather to say that 
"we believed the holy manhood to be a member of the Christ oi God, 
and my reasons for so doin;^; were these : First, What needed we 
to grant more than was asked .^ Friends only desired to have us 
grant that the manhood was a part of Christ, in order to overthrow 
r. Hicks's attempts to prove us no Christians ; and that was of so 
great moment in that solemn and great assembly, as tongue cannot 
utter. Secondly, Since we were willing to go no further in our 
confessions than they asked at our hands, this was my reason for 
rejecting the word part for member, to wit, that a body may be 
taken into members without breach of union, but not into parts. 
A member divides not : parts divide. Christ is called the head, 
that is, tlie most noble member, the Church the body, and particu- 
lars are styled members of that body. Now calling these members 
divides them nut in o parts. Thirdly, I did not say, it was hut a 
member, and I often repeated, that it wa^ of' and belong-ing to 
Christ, and in my confession at the close I said, that we believed 
in Christ, both as he was the man Jesus, and God over all blessed for 
ever. And I am sure that Paul divides hi;n more than we did, 
Rom. ix. 5, since he makes a distinction between Christ as God, 
and Christ as man. Now if that hold, the one was not completely 
Christ without the other, as said these Baptists. Therefore G. K. 
said, that he was most excellently called so as God, less excellent- 
ly as man, and least excellently as to his body. We might truly 
sav tlien, that the body was a member or belonging to the true Christ; 
andif we had saidmore,wehadgone too far, as I have learned. Rut, 
blf ssed be the Lord ! I have not sought to comprehend or imagine ; 
butas I am furnished upon the occasion, so it goes. I value the invis- 
ible touches and feeling of heavenly virtue and life beyond it all, nor 
am I delighted with these matters: but, dear George, 1 confess I nev- 
er heard any Friend speak so fully as to Christ's manhood as thyself. 
I think so much in print in our name as a people would remove 
much prejudice, and the contest would couie more to power against 
power, than words against words ; only we must remember, tliat 
Christ is said to h n-e been in the wilderness, and to have brought 
the people out of Rgypt. If so, then he v/as Christ before he v/as 
born of the Virgin, and the apostle says that Christ is God, and 
that all things were made by him ; though doubtless the great and 
glorious appearance might by way of eminency most properly de- 
serve and require that title. As for those gross terms of human, 
Jlesh and human blood, I never spok'> or wrote them since I knew 
the Lord's truth. And this I must needs say, we have been ay 
poor tossed sheep up and down, much abused, vilified, and belied : 
but over all God is raising the strong horn of his salvation ; and he 



OS WliLIAM PENN. 55 

has magnified his name in all these bustles and stirs ; and t^uth 
has manifestly gotten ground, and in no one thing more than our 
plain confessions of Christ : so much had the Devil roosted and 
nestled himself in them under their misapprehensions of our M^ords 
in that particular : and if any weakness attended the phrasing ot it, 
I hope and believe the simplicity in which it was delivered will 

hide it from the evil watcher." Here the first sheet of the letter 

ends, the second being lost, and with it all further knowledge of 
this controversy, as well as of the proceedings of Hicks, or of 
those who were associated with him on this occasion. 

The person who, next to Hicks, gave this year the most trouble 
to William Penn, was John Faldo. He had produced, as stated 
in the preceding chapter, his book, called " Quakerism no Chris- 
tianity," which had been answered : but in the present year he 
appeared in print by publishing " A Vindication" of his former 
work. This brought forward a rejoinder, called " The Invalidity 
of John Faldo's Vindication," from William Penn. Upon this 
Faldo sent his antagonist a challenge to meet him in public dis- 
pute. William Penn, however, declined it. His reason, he said, 
for so doing, was, that the points, upon which he had been chal- 
lenged, were then in discussion between the Quakers and other 
people. In his answer, however, to the challenge, he stated, " that 
he loved, and therefore that he slioukK at any time convenient, em- 
brace a sober discussion of the principles of religion, for that he 
aim d at nothing more than Truth's triumph, though to his own 
abasement." Modest as this declaration was, Faldo was not sat- 
isfied, but published " A Curb to William Penn's Confidence," 
which the latter immediately opposed by " A Return to John Fal- 
do's Reply." After this, Faldo did not renew the contest himself: 
tut he became an instrument of continuing it ; for he assembled a 
large council of Divines, by whose advice his first work called 
*' Quakerism no Christianity" was republished. This, the second 
edition of it, was accompanied by a commendatorypreface produc- 
ed by the joint labours of this learned body. As the work in its 
first form had attracted so much notice from William Penn, it may 
be easily supposed tliat it could not do less in tlie present. Accord- 
ingly he wrote a reply to it, which, on account of the number of 
clergymen concerned in the preface, he called " A Just Rebuke to 
One-and-twenty Learned and Reverend Divines." After this the 
controversy ceased between them. I may just observe, with re- 
spect to the books written by William Penn on occasion of John 
Faldo, that Dr. Henry Moore, who was then considered one of the 
most learned and pious men in the Church of Rngland, passed an 
encomium upon tham. In a letter written to William Penn he ex- 
presses himself thus : " Indeed meeting with the little pamphlet 
of yours newly come out, wherein some twenty and odd learned and 
revc'tnd divines are concerned, I had the curiosity to I'uy and read 
it : and though 1 wisb there were no occasion for these controversies 
and contests betwixt those who have left the Church of Rome; 
yet I found such a taste both of wit and seriousness in that pam- 
phlet, and the argument it was about so weighty, that I was resolv- 



^ 



MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 



'ted to buy all of John Faldo's and all of yours touching that sub- 
ject ; but before that little pamphlet, I never met with any of your 

writings."' " As to your other two books against John Faldo, 

whatever passages there be that may not be agreeable to my senti- 
ments, you will easily perceive of what nature they are, by perus- 
ing my remarks upon G. K.'s immediate revelation. But there 
are sundry passages in those two books of yours nobly Christian, 
'and for which 1 have no small kindness and esteem for you, they 
'being testimonies of that which I cannot but highly prize wherever 
I find it." 

The persons who kept him employed next, were Henry Halli- 
well, who wrote an account of* Familism, as it was revived and 
■propagated by the Quakers," and Samuel Grevil, a clergyman liv- 
ing near Banbury, who wrote " A Discourse against the Testimo- 
ny of the Light within." In answer to the first he published 
" Wisdom justified of her Children," and to the other " Urim and 
Thummim, or the Apostolical Doctrines of Light and Perfection 
"maintained." 

He was now obliged to take up his pen against John Perrot, one 
of his own society. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit speaking as 
it were within men and guidin r them into the way of truth, wliich 
was the great corner-stone of Quakerism, had been received by 
many ©f that persuasion in too large a latitude, so that these, in- 
terpreting every ordinary motion within themselves as springing 
immediately from the divine impulse, and obeying it in its several 
tendencies, ran out into extravagancies in various ways. This con- 
duct began to bring the rising name of the Quakers into some dis- 
repute. Hence, and on account of the error which gave birth to 
it, the society was obliged to notice it, and in consequence several 
so acting were disowned. Among these was John Perrot. The said 
John Perrot and John Luff", supposing themselves to have been 
moved in this manner, or to have had a divine revelation for the 
purpose, undertook a journey to Rome with a view of converting 
the Pope. They had not been long there when they were taken up 
and put into prison. Luff" was sent to the Inquisition, where he 
died, but not without a reasonable suspicion of having been mur- 
dered there. Perrot was put info a bedlam or hospital for mad- 
men ; from which being extricated, and this only by great interest, 
he returned to England. He had not been long at home, when he 
maintained that in the time of prayer men should keep their hats 
on, unless they had an immediate internal motion or notice to take 
them off"; and he exemplified this doctrine by his practice into 
whatever meetings he went. It was in consequence of this irreg- 
ularity of conduct, after many admonitions, that he was disowned. 
Soon after this his exclusion from membership an anonymous pam- 
phlet appeared, but yet written by himself, called " The Spirit of 
the Hat." This occasioned William Penn to publish a reply, to 
which he gave the curious title of" The Spirit of Alexander the 
Coppersmith lately revived, and now justly rebuked." He had, 
however, scarce ushered it into the world, before Perrot wrote 
against the church order and discipline of the Quakers. This com- 



9V WIT.LIAM PENK. 5? 

pelled him to enter the lists again, when a publicaticm called " Ju- 
das and the Jews combined against Christ and his followers" was 
the result of liis labour. 

Besides the works now mentioned, he v/rote in the same year 
" A Discourse of the general Rule of Faith and Practice, and Judge 
of Controversy," and *' The proposed Comprehension soberly and 
not unseasonably considered ;" also six letters of public concern, 
all of which are extant : one to the L^uflering Quakers in Holland 
and Germany; another to the little Church of the same established 
in the United Netherlands ; a third to those who were then settled 
in Maryland, and in whose behalf he had intei-fered with the At- 
torney General of that colony and the Lord Baltimore, relative to 
their scruples against oaths 5 tlie fourth to John Collenges, a doctor 
of divinity, in defence of his own book called " The Sandy Foun- 
dation Shaken ; a fifth to Mary Pennyman, wlio had taken offence 
at his book entitled " Juda^i and the Jews corabined against Christ 
and his Followers ;'' and the sixth to Justice Fleming, who was 
deputy lieutenant of the county of Westmoreland, and who had 
been harsh as a magistrate towards the Quakers. From the latter 
I give t!ie following extract, on account of the just sentiments it 
contains. " The obligation (says he) which thy civility laid upon 
the person who is., now my wife, when in the northin lG64,is,witli 
her being so, become mine. Not to acknowledge, tliough I could, 
never retaliate it, v/ere a rudeness I have not usually been guilty 
of ; for, how^ever differing I am from other rnen circa sacra^ that is, 
relative to religious matters, and to that vvorld which, respecting 
men, may be said to begin when this ends, I know no religioa 
which destroys courtesy, civility and kindness. These, rightly un- 
derstood, are great indications of true men, if not of good Chris- 
tians." And a little further on he adds, " That way is but a 

bad way of making Christiang, which destroys their constitutions 
»e men." 



H 



$§- MEtMOIRS or THE Lirt 



CHAPTER X, 



efl. 1674 — tries in stem the torrent of religioiiry persecution by a let- 
ter to Bowls— ^nd to two other Justices-^anatotke King — writes 
for the same purpose " A Trentisf of Oaths'^'' — also '''■ England's 
present Interest considered^^ — contents of this icork^-also " The 
continued Cry of the oppressed for Justice-''— -short e.rtracts from 
the latter'— also a Letter to the Senate ofEmhden — jmblishes ^^J\/*a' 
Iced Truth needs no Shift'- — " Ives's sober Bequest provedfalse'* 
' — and Libels no Froofs^' — Letter to G. Fox on the subject of. his 
release. 



The declaration of indulgence to tender consciences in matters 
of religion, which was stafed to have been granted hy Charles the 
Second in 1671, had, for the sliort time it was in force, secured 
both the Quakers and other Dissenters from persecution ; but in 
the year 1674, to which 1 now come, an occurrence took place, 
which hecame the means of removing it. The Parliament, though 
upon the whole friendly to religious toleration, considered this de- 
claration of indulgence by the King as an undue extension of his 
prerogative, and therefore called it in as illegal. This measure 
■was wilfully misinterpreted by those in office, who were bigots, as 
implying a wish on the part of the Parliament that all privileges ta 
Dissenters should be withdrawn ; and therefore, to gratify their 
own barbarous prejudices, they availed themselves of this opportu- 
nity to consider the Conventicle Act as in force, and to renew their 
old practices. These cruel and wicked proceedings roused again 
the spirit of William Penn, and kept him employed, as we shall 
see, for nearly the remainder of the year. 

Justice Bowls having led tbe way in Wiltshire hy the persecu- 
tion of Thomas Please, he was the first to attract the notice of 
William Penn : but the latter, not aware that this example would 
be so soon and so extensively foUov/ed, addressed to him only a 
ghort letter on the occasion. 

The next breaking out of intolerancy was in Middlesex, where 
two Justices of the Peace summoned several Quakers before them, 
who had been charged with having met together in religious wor- 
ship contrary to law. William Penn, on being made acquainted 
■with the fact, addressed a moderate and respectful letter to them, 
in which he appealed to their own good sense on this subject. 
Among the many excellent passages contained in it, 1 shall select 
the following : " Next, let it be weighed," says he, " that ive came 
not to our liberties and properties hy the Protestant religion. TJieir 
date rises higher. Why then should a nonconformity to it, purely 
conscientious, deprive us of them .' 2Viis or that sort of religion 
was not specified in the ancient civil government^' — and further oit 
fee observes thus ; " The nature of body and soul, of eai-th an<I 



CF WILLIAM PUNN. SS 

iieaven, of'this world and that to come, difters. There can be no 
reason, then, to persecute any man i«i/iis it'orW about any thing fftat 
belongs to the ne^cL Wlio art thou, says the Holy Scripture in this 
case, thatjudgest another man's servant ? lie must stand or fall to 
ids mnster., the great God. Let tares ami wheat grow together tilt 
the harvest. To call for fire from heaven was no part of Christ^srb-> 
ligion. Indeed he reproved the zeal of some of his disciples. His 
sword is sjiiritual, like his kingdom. Be pleased to remember, i/i«f 
faith is the gift of God, and what is not of faith is sin. We must 
either be hypocrites in doing what we believe in our consciences 
we ought not to do, or in forbearing what we aj-e fully persuaded 
we ought to do. Either give us better faith, or leave us with such 
as we have ; for it seems um-easonable in you to disturb us for 
that which we have, and yet be unable to give us any other." 

But, alas, the evil began seriously to spread ! The same spirit 
of persecution appeared in Somersetshire. Ilumsheer, the town 
clerk of Bridgwater, and William Bull and Colonel Stawell, two 
■Justices of the peace ibr that county, were conspicuous for their 
severity there. Several Quakers were fined on suspicion only. 
Fines were levied upon others without warrants, and this to the 
breaking of locks and bolts. Goods were seized and taken, which 
were of twice the value of the fines; and, where the former were not 
of equal value with the latter, the parties were senttogaol. These 
proceedings becoming known to William Peiin, he thought it time 
to interfere more seriously ; and therefore hoping to set aside these 
practices by a summary proceeding, he addressed a letter immedi- 
ately on the subject to tlie King. 

This letter appears to have been of no avail (nor indeed could 
*he King Itelp himself) ; for persecution still continued, and it not 
only spread to other counties, but it was carried on by a revival of 
that unjust procedure, by which William Penn himself had been 
sent to Newgate by Sir John Robinson, as mentioned in a preced- 
ing chapter ; that is, when magistrates could not convict Quakers 
of the charges brought against them, they offered them the oath of 
allegiance ; knowing tiiat, if they obeyed their own scruples, thej 
could not take it, and that, if they refused, the}^ might be sent to 
prison. This being tlse case, and innocent men being thus tortur- 
ed legally, William Penn was of opinion, that the country at large 
ought to know what the Quakers had to say for their conduct, when 
put to the test, on such occasions. Accordingly he published " A 
Treatise of Oaths," in which, first, he gave to the world all those 
reasons, both argumentative and scriptural, upon M'hich they 
grounded their i-efusal to swear before the civil magistrate ; hoping 
tluit these, when known, would at any rate shield them from the 
charge of disafiection. and by so doing, that possibly they might 
put an end to the oppressive process in question. He then endeav- 
oui-ed to enforce these reasons by a learned appeal to the opinion 
and practice of the ancients, as it related to the Heathen world ; 
by a reference to the testimony of the most famous Jewish writers; 
and by quotations from the sayings and writings of Christians of 
all ages, taking in those of fathers, confessors, martyrs, and other* 
eminent both among the laity and the clmrch. 



^ MEMOinS 07 THE LIFE 

But this work, however it might have softened some, had not th« 
least influence (such was the religious fury of the times) where it 
was most to be desired. Bigots, who had power, still continued 
to abuse it. Persons were thrown into gaol, so that parents and 
their children were separated. Cattle were driven away. The 
widow's cow was not even spared. Barns full of corn were seiz- 
ed, which was threshed out and sold. Household-goods were dis- 
trained, so that even a stool was not left in some cases to sit on, 
and the very milk boiling on the fire for the family thrown to the 
dogs in order to obtain the skillet as a prize. These enormities 
sometimes took place on suspicion only that persons had preached 
to or attended a conventicle ; and to such length were they carried, 
that even some of those who went only to visit and sitby their sick 
relations, were adjudged to be a company met to pray in defiance 
of the law. In this trying situation William Penn attempted again 
to stem the torrent by a work of a new kind. He indulged a hope, 
that, if he could not affect some men's minds by one kind of argu- 
ment, he might by another. In addition therefore to his moral and 
religious Treatise upon Oaths, he published a political one under 
the following title : " England's present Interest considered with 
Honour to the Prince and Safet}" to the People, in Answer to this 
Question, What is most fit, easy, and safe at this .luncture of Af- 
fairs to be done for quieting DifterenceSj allaying the Heat of con- 
trary Interests, and making them subservient to tlie Interest of the 
Government, and consistent with the Prosperity of (he Kingdom r 
submitted to the Consideration of our Superiors." 

Of this admirable work I cannot but notice the contents. He be- 
jran it by a short preface. In this he showed the heated and di- 
vided state in which the kingdom then was on account of religious 
differences. He maintained that what had been done by the Gov- 
ernment to produce uniformity had failed ; and that it had been 
productive not only of no good, but of much misery. He explained 
the nature of this misery by specific instances. He then stated the 
c|uestion as I have just given it in the title of the book, and answer- 
ed it by asserting, that the thing most fit, safe and easy to be done, 
would be a determination by the Government, first, upon an invio- 
lable and impartial maintenance of English rights; secondh',upon 
conducting itself so as to act upon a balance, as nearly as it could, 
towards the several religious interests ; and, thirdly, upon a sincere 
promotion of general and practical religion. 

Having finished this, the preface, he came to the body of the work, 
in which he considered the three parts or divisions of the answer 
as now given. In handling tlie fust, or tlie determination by Gov- 
ernment upon an inviolable and impartial maintenance of English 
rights, he explained what he meant by the latter. Englishmen, he 
said, had birth-rights. The first of these consisted of«« ownership 
and undistiirhed possession, so that what they had was rightly their 
own and nobody's else, and sack possession and ownership related 
both to title and security of estate, and liberty of person from the 
tiohnce of arbitrary power. This was the situation of our ances- 
tors in ai>cient British times. I'hey who governed afterwards, the 
Saxons, made no alteration in this law. but confirmed it, The Nor- 



' OFWILLIAM PENN. 6l 

mans who came next did the same. William, at his coronation^ 
made a solemn covenant to maintain the good, approved, and an* 
cient laws of the kingdom, and t<» inhibit all spoil and unjust judg- 
ment. The same covenant was adopted by his successors, and 

confirmed by Magna Gharta. The second birth-right of English* 

men consisted in the voting of every law that was made, whereby 
that ownership in Ubertif and property might be maintained. This 
also was the case, as he proved by quotations from laws and an ap» 

peal to history, in British, Saxon, and Norman times.' The third 

birth-right of Englishmen consisted in having an influence upon 
and a great share in the judicatory poiver, so that they were not to 
be condemned but by the votes of freemen. This practice, he said, 
though not perhaps British, obtained very early in Saxon times. It 
was among the laws of Ethelred, that in every hundred tliere should 
be a court, where twelve ancient freemen, together with the lord 
of the hundred, should be sworn that they would not condemn the 
innocent or acquit the guilty. The same law continued to be the 
law of the land under different kings, till it was violated by John j 
when Magna Charta restored it. Magna Charta, however, he 
maintained, was not the nativity, but the restorer of ancient Eng- 
lish privileges. It was no grant of new rights, but only a restorer 

of the old. He then explained the great Charter of England, and 

endeavoured to show by an appeal to reason, law, lawyers, and 
facts themselves, that the people of England could not be justly- 
disseized of any of these fundamentals without their own consent 
collectively ; nor could their representatives, whatever else they 
might do, constitutionally alter them. If, however, any altera- 
tion should be made in these great fundamentals of the constitU" 
tion, the reason should be the inconvenience or evil of continuing 
them. No other reason could be pleaded in excuse ; but no such 
justification had been attempted. Nothing then, he maintained, 
could be more unjust than to sacrifice the liberty arnl property of 
any man for religion, where he was not found breaking any lave 
which related to natural or civil things. Religion under any modi- 
ficatien or church government was no part of the old English con-« 
stitution. " Honeste vivere, alterum non l(vdere,jns siiiim cuique 
tribuere,^'' that is. To live honestly, to do no injury to another, 
and to give every man his due, was enough to entitle every native 
to English privileges. It was this, and not his religion, which- 
gave him the great claim to the protection of the Government under 
which he lived. J^ear three hundred years before Jlustiyi set his 
foot on Mnglish ground the inhabitants had a good constitution^ 
This came not in ^vith him. J\'*either did it come in with Luther f 
nor 7f'«s it to go out with Calvin. We were a free people by the 
creation of God. by the redemption of Christ, and by the careful p^'o- 
vision of our never to lye forgotten, honourable ancestors ; so that 
our claim tothese English privileges. rising higher than Frotestant- 
ism, co'ctM never justly be invalidated on account of nonconformity 
to any tenet or fashion it might prescribe. This would be to lose 
by the Reformation, which was efi'ected onlv.that we might enjoy 
property with conscience. But if these ancient fundamental laws, 
»o agreeable to nature, so suited to the dispositions of our natioD, 



.^^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

go often defended with blood and treasure, so carefully and fre- 
quently ratified by our ancestors, should not be to our great state- 
pilots as stars or compass for them to steer the vessel of the king- 
dom by, or as limits to their legislation, no man could tell how long 
he would be secure of his coat, enjoy his house, have bread for his 
children, or liberty to work for it, or life to eat it He then ar- 
gued the folly, the inconsistency, the evil tendency of acting in 
such cases by any other rules than those of the people's rights and 
brought examples from history to show how a contrary conduct had 
operated to the downfall of many states. 

With respect to the second part of the answer, that is, a deter- 
mination by the Government of conducting itself so as to act upon 
a balance, as nearly as it could, towards the several religious in- 
terests, he proved, first, thatour Saviour prohibited all force in pro- 
ducing an uniformity of religious opinion. He contended, sec- 
ondly, that if any one party should use force for sucli a purpose, it 
ought to have the preponderance in numbers, wisdom, wealth, so- 
ber life, industry, and resolution on its own side. But this was 
then not the case with the Church. If, however, the Church of 
England had then by the favour of the Government a greater share 
of authority than any other in the land, he maintained not only 
that the said Government ought not to favour one class of religious 
Dissenters more than another — ^but tliat it ought to preserve a due 
balance by treating all alike, and by freely giving, not a Compre- 
hension, but Tolertition to all. This latter sentiment he support- 
ed by eight arguments chiefly of a prudential nature, and drawn 
partly fi-om general principles and partly from the political state 
of the kingdom, of which I have only room for the following. " It 
is not," says he, '• the interest of Governors to blow coals in their 
own country, especially when it is to consume their own people, 
and it may be themselves too." Again : '- Such conduct not only 
makes them enemies, but there is no such excitement to revenga 
as a raped conscience. Whether the ground of a man's religious 
dissent be ratit)nal or not, severity is unjustifiable with him : for it 
is a maxim with sufferers, that, whoever is in the wrong, the per- 
secutor cannot he in the right. Men not conscious to tliemselves 
of evil, and hardly treated, not only resent it unkindly, but are 
bold to shew it." Again : " Suppose the prince by his severity 
should conquer any into compliance, he could upon no prudent 
ground assure himself of their fidelity, that is, of the fidelity of 
those whom he taught to be treacherous to their own convictions." 
Having detailed his eight arguments, he anticipated three ob- 
jections which might be made to them, and then gave to each of 
these a distinct consideration and reply. 

With respect to the third part of the answer, that is, a determi- 
nation by the Government upon a sincere promotion of general and 
practical religion, I shall only observe, that, however excellent his 
sentiments were on that subject, it is unnecessary to repeat them, 
because the advantage of such a determination if put in practice 
must be obvious. 

Notwithstanding this excellent work, persecution still followed 
those who dared to dissent practically from the Established Church, 



v.. 



OF WILLIAM PENN, 63 

but particularly the Quakerg x and continuing to rage with unabat- 
ed fury, he resolved to make one other effort in belialt'of his suffer- 
ing brethren. Finding that an appeal to reason, and to the law and 
constitution of the country had failed with those to whom he had 
lately addressed himselt, he determined to try to make an impres- 
sion upon their feelings. He wrote therefore a small book, which 
he called " The continued Cry of the oppressed for Justice, being 
a farther Account of the late unjust and cruel Proceedings of un- 
reasonable men against the Persons and Estates of many of the 
People called Quakers, only for tlieir peaceable Meetings to wor- 
ship God : presented to the serious consideration of the King and 
both Houses of Parliament." He began this book with an appro- 
priate address to tlie three branches of the Constitution, after wliicii 
he satisfied himself with relating in a plain and simple manner sev- 
eral of the atrocities which had taken place in different parts of the 
kingdom, hoping that the bare recital of them would do good. That 
the reader may judge of some of these, I shall lay before him the 
following extracts. " Four persons were sent to prison only for 
attending a meeting at Long Claxton in Leicestershire, from whom' 
goods of various kinds were seized to the amount of two hundred 
and thirty -six poujids (an enormous sum in those days), their very 
bed-clothes and working-tools being taken from them. In clearing 
the meeting-house on this occasion, not only men but women were 
forcibly dragged out, some by the heels, and others by the hair of 
their heads. Many were also purposely trod upon, and several 

bruised and wounded in different ways. In Nottinghamshire, 

James Nevil. a justice of the peace, took from T. Samsun by war- 
rant on account of his attending two meetings, nineteen head of 
beasts and goods to the value of sixty pounds and upwards. — — In. 
the county of Norfolk, John Palteson had two hundred sheep takea 
from him, and William Barber cows, carts, a plough, a pair of har- 
rows, and hay, for the same oflTence, to the amount of fifty pounds. 
Barber's house had been rifled before ten times^ and he was then a 
irr'isoner upon awrltrfe p.Tconnjuni/cofocffjn'ffirfo.——— William Bra- 
zier, shoemaker at Cambridge, was fined by John Hunt, mayor, 
and John Spenser, vicechancellor, twenty pounds for holding a 
peaceable religious meeting in his own house. The officers, who 
distrained for this sum, took his leather, lasts, the seat he worked 

upon, wearing clothes, bed, and bedding. In Somersetshire F. 

Pawlett, justice of the peace, fined thirty -two persons only for 
being at a burial, and seized for the fines cows, corn, and other 
goods to the amount of eighty -two pounds and upwards. No one 
appearing to buy the distrained cattle, the Justice employed a per- 
son to buy them for himself.- In Berkshire Thomas Curtis was 

fined three pounds fifteen shillings by Justice Craven, who ordered 
his mare to be seized, which was worth seven pounds. Curtis put 
in an appeal against this proceeding, according to the act ; but it 
was thrown out. The officers also offered the fine to Craven ; but 
he would not take it, but had the mare valued at four pounds, and 
then kept her for himself. In Cheshire Justice Daniel, of Dares- 
bury, took from Briggs ami others the value of one hundred and 
mxtcen pounds fifteen shillings and ten peace in corn, kine, and 



i 



r**i 



*#! MSMOIKS OF THE LIFE 

horses. The latter he had the audacity to retain ami to wwk for 
his own use. -In the same county, near Nantwich, Justice Man- 
waring took by warrant, for fines Avhich amounted to eighty-seven 
pounds, goods to the value of one hundred andonepoundsin kine, 
bacon, brass, pewter, corn, clotli, shoes, and cheese. Some of tlie 
sufferers appealing, the Jury acquitted them ; hut the Justices would 
not receive the verdict. The same Justices on the other hand, at 
the next sessions gave judgment for the informers with treble costs. 
"——Such was the nature of" The continued Cry of the oppressed 
for Justice ;" a work, though small, yet valuable, inasmuch as it 
shows us what man is capable of when under the dominion of big- 
otry and superstition ; furnishing us with facts, which but for the 
known truth of them, we, who live in this improved age, should 
have thought incredible under a Government calling itself Protest- 
ant, and crying out against the persecution of the Romish Church. 

The same spirit of love and hatred of oppression, which made 
William Penn so warm an advocate for his brethren at home, im- 
pelled liini to become the champion of their interests abroad. A 
decree had come out this year at Embden, by which all Quakers 
were to be banished from that city. He wrote therefore a letter 
to the Senate of Embden, worded in Latin, and of considerable 
length in their behalf. 

We find that lie was engageil in three works of a controversial 
nature during the present year. An anonymous person had pub- 
lished " The Quaker's last Shift found out." This he answered 
by " Naked Truth needs no Shift." He wrote, secondly, " Jere- 
my Ives's sober Request proved in the Matter of it to be false, and 
impertinent, and impudent," and soon after this " Libels no 
Proofs." 

About this time he interested himself in procuring the release of 
George Fox. The latter after his return frwn America went to 
London, and after staying there some time left it, partly to visit 
his mother, who was then on her death-bed, and partly to return 
home with his wife into Lancashire. In passing, however, through 
Worcestershire, he happened to preach. This was just after the 
Act of Indulgence had been called in. The consequence was, that 
he was taken up and committed to Worcester gaol, where he had 
been then a prisoner for some months. In this situation William 
Penn exerted himself in his favour, as appears by the following 
letter : 

** Dear George Fox ! 

*' Thy dear and tender love in thy last letter I received, and for 
thy business thus : A great lord, a man of a noble mind, did as 
good as put himself in a loving way to get thy liberty. He prevail- 
ed with the King for a pardon, but that we rejected. Then he prest 
for a more noble release, that better answered hath. He prevailed, 
and got the King's hand to a release. It sticks with the Lord 
Keeper, and we have used and do use what interest we can. The 
King is angry with him (the Lord Keeper), and promiseth 
very largely and lovingly ; so that, if we have been deceived, thou 
seest the grounds of it. But we have sought after a writ of error 
tkeie tea dafys past, well nigh resolving to be sure a» we can ; an(i 



OF WILLIAM PENNo 65 

an habeas corpus is gone or will go to-morrow night. My dear lev* 
salutes thee and thy dear wife. Things are brave as to Truth in 
tliese parts ; great conviction upon the people. My wife's dear 
love is to you all. I long and hope ere long to see thee. 
" So, dear George Fox, am, &c. 

" Wm. Penn." 
There is another letter from William Penn to George Fox on 
the same subject, but it is unnecessary to copy it. It may suffice 
to say, that, after a discovery of several errors in the indictment, 
the release of his friend followed. 



• ;4i:-:'i 



CHAPTER XL 

d. 167 j—'sontinues at Rlckmanswortlir— 'converts many-^holds d 
public dispnts thece with Richard Baxter-^oorresponds ivith the 
latter — publisJies " Saul smitten to the Ground^^'~'Writes to a Ro- 
man Catholic — arbitrates between Fenwick and Byllinge — two 
letters to the former. 

In the year 1675 we find him still living at Rickmansworth, 
where, as well as in other places, he became eminent as a minister 
of the Gospel. In his own neiglibourhood indeed he had convert- 
ed many ; and from this cause, as well as from a desire which oth- 
ers of his own society bad to live near him, the country about 
Rickmansworth began to abound with Quakers. Tliis latter cir- 
cumstance occasioned him, oddly enough, to be brought forward 
again as a public disputant; for the celebrated Richard Baxter, who 
was then passing that way, when he saw so many of tlie inhabitants 
of this description, began to be alarmed for their situation. He 
considered them as little better than lost people, and was there- 
fore desirous of preaching to them, in order, to use his own words, 
••'that they might once hear what was to be said for their recovery." 
This coming to the ears of William Penn, he wrote to Baxter, and 
one letter followed another, till at length it was mutually agreed, 
that they should hold a public controversy on some of the more es- 
sential articles of the Quaker faith. What these were I could nev- 
er learn. It is certain, however, that the parties met, and that 
they met at Rickmansv/orth. It is known also, that the contro- 
versy began at ten in the morning, and lasted till five in the after- 
noon, and that the disputants addressed themselves, each in turn, 
to two rooms filled with people, among M'hom were counted one 
lord, two knig1\ts, and four conformable ministers, that is, clergy- 
men of the Establishctl Church. 

(>f the issue of this controversy I can find no record. Richard 
Baxter seems to have been satisfied with himself on the occasion, 
for he says in allusion to it, " that the success of it gave hini cause 
to believe that it was not labour lost." William Penn, on the oth- 
er hand, snoke of it witli some cojufidence j for, in a letter which 
I 



6S MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

he addressed to Richard Baxter soon afterwards, he stated, '^•' that 
if he had taken advantaf',e of him, he could have rendered him more 
ridiculous than he feared his principles of love would have borne." 
From tiie same letter we have reason to think that the meeting nas 
not a well conducted one ; for William Penn says, that •' if he 
should be informed, when Richard Baxter's occasions would per- 
mit a debate more methodically, and like true disputation, (which 
he judged mote suitable before the same audience.) he would en- 
deavour to comply, though he was not without weighty affairs al- 
most continually on his hands to furnish him with an excuse." 

This letter and the public dispute preceding it gave rise to a 
correspondence between the pattii'S, in which tbree or four other 
letters were exchanged. Of the contents of those written by Rich- 
ard Baxter I can find nothins;!;, except what may be inferred from 
those which are extant of William Penn. I shall therefore pass 
both of them over, observing only, that William Penn's last letter 
manifested a spirit of forgiveness which exalted his character, and 
a spirit, by wliich it was apparent that, whatever he miglit think of 
the doctrine or temper of his opponent, he believed in the sound- 
ness of his heart. The conclusion of it was t!iis: '' in which dear 
love of God, Richard Baxter, I do forgive thee, and desire thy 
good and felicity. And when I read thy letter, the many severi- 
ties therein could not deter me from saying that I could freely give 
thee an apartment in my house and liberty therein ; that I could 
visit, and yet discourse thee in much tender love, notwithstanding 
tliis hard entertainment from tliee. I am, without harder words, 
" Thy sincere and loving Friend, 

." William Penn." 

In the course of this year Matthew Hide, who had been very 
troublesome in the Quakers' meetings, by interrupting and oppos- 
ing their ministers when in the performance of their w orship, be- 
came sick ; and being on his death-bed, and under great remorse of 
conscience for what he had done, he could not be easy till he had 
sent for Geoige Whitel'ead and others of the society, to express 
to tliem the sorrow lie felt for the opposition he had given them as 
a people. This gave occasion to William Penn to publish a small 
■work, which he called " Saul smitten to the Ground, being a brief 
but fait'nful Narrative of tbe dying Remorse of a late livino- Enemy, 
(to the People called Quakers, and tbeir Faith and Worship,) 
Mattbew Hide, attested by Ear-and-Eve-Witnesses ; whereof his 
Widow was one : — published in Honour to God, for a Warning 
to '^lainsayers. and a (Confirmation to the Honest-hearted." 

He wrote also a Letter to a Roman Catholic, hut the occasion of 
it is not mentioned. " The Church of Rome, he said, had lost her 
chastity, having taken in discipline and princioles which were nei- 
tlier of Christ, nor to be found in tbe hoi v Scriptures. She had de» 
parted from her simnlicitv, purity, meekness, patience, and self- 
denial of the first ch'irclies. Tbey onlv wee Christ's who took up 
their cross a<rainst tbe g'o! y and spirit of this world. It was a mis- 
take to think that to be a Church of Christ, which had lost its heav- 
enly qualifications, because it once was : for what was become of 
Aatioch and Jerusalem, both churches ofChrist,knd before Rome ?" 



OF W^ILLIAM FENN. 67 

He then called his (the Roman Catholic's) attention to the New 
Dispensation, which he and his tViends were promoting, and ex- 
hoited liim " to build no more upon tlie fancies and ti aditions of 
men, but upon Christ the sme found^ition as he appeared in the 
consciences of men." 

After tbis lie was engaged in an arbitration between John Fen- 
wick and Edward liyliinge, two members of bis own religious sa- 
ciety, wiio had purchased of Lord Berkeley bis half share of New 
Jersey in Nortb America. Having well considered the case, he 
had made his award ; but Fenwick refused to abide by it. Tbis 
gave him great uneasiness, and produced from him tue following 
friendly letter : 

•' John Fenwick ! 

" The present diilerence betwixt thee and Edward Byllinge fills 
the hearts of Friends wit'i grief, and with a resolution to take it in 
two days into tiieir consideration to make a public denial of tue 
person that ouers violence to the awaid made, or that will not end 
it without bringing it upon the public stage. God, tUe rigliteous 
judge, will visit him t;\at stands otF. Kdward Byllinge will refer 
the matter to me ag lin, if thou wilt do the like. Send me word ; 
and, as opprest as I am with business, I will find an afternoon to- 
morrow or next day to determine and so prevent the mischief that 
will certainly follow divulging it in Westminster-hall. Let me 
know by the bearer thy mind. O John ! let Truth and the honour 
of it in this day prevail! Woe to him that causeth offences ! lam 
an impartial man. 

"William Penn." 

This letter in about ten days was follov/ed by a second, in which 
he could not help rebuking Fenwick on accmnt of his conduct. 
He stated, however, that the original of the dispute reSected upon 
botli parties, and, what was worse, upon Truth, that is, upon their 
religious profession as Quakers. It was to hide this their high 
profession from s!iame,that he undertook the office of an abitrator; 
and he was willing to continue his mediation for the same reason. 

In tiiirteen days he wrote another letter to Fenwick, which, as 
it shows the openness of his mind, and is withal full of good sense 
or rather true wisdom, 1 submit to the perusal of the reader. 
" John Fenwick ! 

" I have upon serious consideration of the pi-esent difference (to 
end it with benefit to you both, and as much quiet as may be,) 
thought my counsel's opinion very reasonable : indeed, thy own 
desire to have the eight parts added, was not so pleasant to tiie 
Other party that it should now^ be siu-unk from by thee as injurious; 
and when thou hast once thought a proposal reasonable, and given 
power to another to fix it, 'tis not in thy power, nor indeed a dis-- 
ereet or civil thing, to alter or warp frovn it, and call it a being 
forced. OJohn! lam sorry tkat a toij, a trifii', should thus rob 
ifiien of their tlmi'^ quiet, and a in(>r>' pmjiiable I'mplny. I have had 
ag'^od conscience in what 1 have done in this affair ; and. if thou 
repose^t confidence in me, and be'ievest me to be a good and just 
man, as thou hast said, thou shouldst not be upon such nicety and 
uncertainty, dicay with vain fancieSf I beseQch thee^ and fall 



68 MSMOtRS OF ril'E LITE 

closely to thy business. Thy days spend on, and make the lest of 
ivhat thou hast. Thy grandchildren may be in the other world, be- 
fore the land thou hast allotted will be employed. My counsel, I \vill 
answer for it, shall do thee all right and service in the aftair that 
becomes him, who, I told thee at first, should draw it up as 
for myself. If this cannot scatter thy fears, thou art unhappy, and 
I am sorry, 

" Thy Friend, William Penn.''* 



■i\<t<i- 



CHAPTER XII. 

^. 1676 — writes " The. SIcirmisher defeated'''' — also to two Protest-^- 
ant Ladies of Quality in Germany — becomes a manager of prO' 
prietary concerns in J^ew Jersey — divides it into East and. West 
— draws up a Constitution, and invites settlers in the latter. 

In the year 1676 John Cheney, who lived near Warrington, and 
who had written frequently against tiie religious principles of the 
Quakers, hrought out a work which he called " A Skirnusii upon 
Quakerism."^ He took occasion in this to lay hold of a passage in 
one of the books which William Pennhad written in the course of 
his cont( oversy with Fa' do. This coming to the knowledge of the 
latter, he produced by way of reply '• The Skirmisher defeated and 
Truth defended," in which he was so successful that Cheney nev- 
er ventured to prsvoke him again. 

There is extant a letter, which he wrote in the present year to 
two Protestant women of quality in Germany. The one was the 
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of the deceased Frederic the Fifth, 
Prince Palatine of the Rhine and King of Bohemia, and grand- 
daughter of King James the First. The other was Anna Maria de 
Homes, Countess of Homes, the friend and companion of the for- 
mer These ladies had long discovered a serious disposition of 
mind, and one of them, the Princess, had sliown her liberality and 
humanity by affording an asylum in her dominions to persons who 
had been persccutetl on account of their religion. Since that time 
they had looked favourably upon those doctrines which the Qua- 
kers taught; for R. Barclay, the celebrated Apologist, and B. Fur- 
ley, who were then travellin" on the Continent as ministers, had 
paid them a religious visit, and had been well i^ceived by them. 
The object therefore of this letter (a verv long one) was chiefly to 
afford them consolation, and to exhort them to constancy and per- 
severance in the Avay to which they had been tlius providentially 
directed. 

About this time William Penn came accidentally into the situa- 
tion of a manager of colonial concerns in New Jersey in North 
America, a situation not only important in itself, but which pro- 
duced the most important results ; for, by being concerned there, 
he was by degrees led to, and fitted for, the formation of a colony 



OF WILLIAM FENlf. 69 

of his own. The way in which he became so concerned was the fol- 
lowing: Lord Berkeley, who wasjointproprietor of New Jersey with 
Sir George Carteret, had in tliepreceding ear sold his half share of 
it to John Fenwick in trust for Edward Byllinge. It was on tliis 
subject that the dispute arose between the latter, which William 
Penn his just been mentioned to have arbitrated, and which since 
that time he had by means of the most exemplary perseverance 
brought to an amicable issue. As £oon as the adjustment took 
place, Fenwick in company v/ith his wife and family and several 
Quakers embarked for America in the ship Griffith, and took pos- 
session of the land. Byllinge. however, who had been drained of 
bis money by tlie purchase, and who since the sailing of Fenwick 
bad experienced misfortune, fount' himself unable to meet the pe- 
cuniary demands which were broujrht. gainst him. He agreed there" 
fore to deliver over bis new property in trust for his creditors ; but 
in consenting to do this, he had his eye fixed upon the friendly as- 
sistance of William Penn. He therefore supplicated the latter 
"with the most earnest entreaty to become a joint trustee with 
Gawen Laurie of London and Nicholas Lucas of Hertford, two of 
the s.-iid creditors, to carry his intention into effect. To this, but 
not till after ninch consideration, be assented ; and thus, though he 
vas in no way concerned in the affairs of Byllinge, he came into 
the situation desciibed. 

His new office requiring exertion, and this immediately, he was 
all at once overwhelmed in business The fiist thing he did, in 
conjunction with the trustees, was to agree with Sir George Car- 
teret upon a division of the province. They allotted to the latter 
the eastern part of it, which by this time was tolerably well peo- 
pled : and the western, in which no settlements hadbeen yetmade, 
they took in behalf of Byllinge to themsidves. From this time 
the former took the name of East, and the latter that of West 
New Jersev, a cording to this their relative situation to each other. 

This division having been made, they then subdivided tlieir own 
portion into a hundred lots. Ten of these they gave to Fenw'ck 
as a repavment for time, trouble, and money advanced by him to 
Lord Berkeley, and the remaining ninety they reserved for sale, 
for the benefit of the creditors of Byllinge. 

The next step was to form a Constitution, for those who in con- 
sequence of purchase were to settle in the now land. This task, 
the most difficult, fell almost exclusively upon William Penn. He 
therefore drew np what he called Concessions, or terms of grant 
and agreement, which were to be mutually signed. The great out- 
line of these may be comprehended in few words. The people 
were to meet ?innually to choose one honest man for each proprie- 
tary, who had signed toe Cnncessions. Ihey, who were so 

chosen, v, ere to sit in assem!)ly 1 bey were to make, alter, and 

repeal laws.' They were also to choose a Governor, or Com- 
missioner, with twelve assistants, who were to execute these laws, 

but only during their pleasure. Every man was to be capable 

both of choosing and being chosi'n. No man was to be arrest- 

eil, imprisonf-^l.or condemned in his estate or liberty , but by twelve 
^.len of the neighbourhood. No man was to be imprisoned for 



^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

debt ; but his estate was to satisfy bis creditors as far as it would 
go, and then he was to be set at liberty to work again for himself 
and family. No man was to. be interrupted or molested on ac- 
count of the exercise of his religion.— —Such was the simple out- 
line of the Concessions, " by an adherence to which he hoped that 
he had laid a foundation for those in after ages to understand their 
liberty both as men and Christians, and by an adherence to which 
they could never be brought into bondage but by their own con- 
sent." '* 

Having made these and other arrangements, he and his col- 
leagues gave notice of the same in a public letter, which they sign- 
ed, and circulated through the kingdom. Through the medium of 
this, they particularly invited those who were of their own relig- 
ious society ta become the new settlers. They cautioned these, 
however, against leaving their country out of any idle curiosity, or 
rambling disposition, or improper motive, or to tWe violation of the 
feelings of their kindred, or of their religious unity as Friends. 
To this caution they annexed " A Description of West New Jer*- 
sey," of its climate, soil, and produce, in order that none might be 
deceived, or have occasion afterwards to repent of their under- 
taking. 

Thus was William Penn employed during a part of the present 
year. Thus, by becoming a trustee for Byllinge, he was unex- 
pectedly throAvn into a situation which brought before him the 
great question of Settlements in the then newly discovered world, 
which enabled him to gain considerable knowledge with respect to 
the formation of these, and which therefore by degrees qualified 
him for that station whicli he filled afterwards as tlje founder of 
Pennsylvania, with so much credit to himself, with so much hon- 
our to his country, and to the admiration of succeeding ages. 



»F WILLIAM PENri, ff 



CHAPTER Xlir. 

.9. 1677— conh'nzfgs his vuinagement of West J^ew Jersey — ap' 
jjoints Commissioners to go there—sells a portion of the land- 
sends off three vessels — undertakes a religiotis visit to Holland 
and Germany— ivrites to the King of Poland from Amsterdam-^ 
his kind reception and employment at the Cmirt at Herwerden-^ 
occurrences at Kris/ieim — Duysburg — J\iulheinv-—Rttriingen — 
Wonderwick — and other places — writes at Frankfort '• A Let- 
ter to the Churches of Jesus throughout the loorld^^ — and at Rot- 
terdam " Ji Call or Suminons to Christendom," and other tracts 
—disputes ivith Oalenus Mrams — returns to England — holds a 
dispute with William Rogers at Bristol. 

In the early part of 1677 William Penn continued to be employ- 
ed on behalf of Byllinge. It appears that he had then left his house 
at Rickmanswoith in Hertfordshire, and that he had established 
himself at Worminghurst in Sussex. Here then, in the calm re- 
treat of the country, he took thought for his new colony. The 
more he considered his situation as a principal manager of it, the 
more he became interested in it. It was his duty to take'^care of 
the individual for whom he acted ; but it was a more pleasing con- 
sideration that, in attending to his interests, he had an opportunity 
of becoming useful on a larger scale. 

While at Worminghurst applications cam« to him, in conse- 
quence of the public letter which had been circulated, for shares ia 
the new adventure, by which it appeared that there was a probabil- 
ity of disposing of a considerable portion of West New Jersey. 
He consulted therefore with his colleagues ; and the result was, 
that they determined to appoint and send over Commissioners, 
who should be empowered to purchase lands of the Indians, to ex- 
amine the rights of such as might claim property in the new terri- 
tory, to give directions for laying out the allotments there, and to 
administer, for the first year, the goA'^ernment, according to the 
spirit of the Concessions before mentioned. 

They resolved next to open proposals for the immediate sale of 
the lands. These offers were no sooner made, such was the high 
character of William Penn, than they were accepted. Among the 
purchasers were two companies, botii consisting of Quakers, the 
one of pprsons from London, the other from Yorkshire. These 
contracted for large shares, and had patents for them. The members 
of the Yorkshire company were principal creditors of Byllinge, 
and they received a tenth part of the whole land in consideration 
of their debts. 

As no persons could more properly act as Commissioners than 
they who had a stake or interest in the new territory, it was judg- 
ed advisable that some of the most resnectahle of the purchasers 
should be appointed to this office, and that the purchasers in gen- 
eral should nonii.iate the rest. Accordingly Thomas Olive and 
Daniel Wills were chosen from among the London, and Joseph 



T^ MEM0IRS OF THE LIfffi 

Helmsley and Robert Stacey from among the Yorkshire proprie<» 
tors. To these were added Richard Guj, who was then in Amer* 
ica with Fenwick and John Kinsej, Benjamin Scott, and others. 

Matters havins^ been thus prepared, the Commissioners, with 
several of the proprietors and their families and servants, to tho 
number of two huniired and thirty, embarked in the ship Kent, 
Gregory Marlow master. As th.^y were lyinii;in the Thames ready 
to sail, it happened that King Charles the Second was passing by 
in his pleasure-barge. Seeing a number of persons on board, he 
went alongside, and inquired whither they were bound. On receiv- 
ing information, he a^ked if they were all Quakers. And being 
answered in the affirmative, he gave them his blessing, and depart- 
ed. Soon after this the ship weighed anchor and proceeded to sea. 
It may be proper to observe, that two other vessels, one from Lon- 
don, and tlie otiier from Hull, followed the ship Kent, the one car- 
rying seventy and the other one hundred and fourteen passengers 
to the same parts. 

We hear nothing more of William Penn till the month of June, 
•when he left Wormingiiurst to attend the yearly meeting of the 
Quakejs. This meeting, which lasted several days, was held ia 
London, and persons belonging to the society flocked to it from all 
parts. Among those who came to it were George Fox and John 
Burnyeat, the latter of whom was an eminent minister at that time. 
These two on the breaking up of the meeting returned with Wil- 
liam Penn to Worjiiinghurst, where they wrote their great work 
called " A New England Firebrand quenched," in answer to a 
publication which a person of the name of Williams, then a settler 
in New England, had brought out against the Quakers. It is prob- 
able from this circumstance that they were assisted in it by Wil- 
liam Penn. 

It was here too, and at this time, that it became a growing 
concern with William Penn, to visit Holland and Germany. His 
object was to communicate " with many seeking persons" there, 
and to bring these to the knowledge of what he conceived to be the 
truth. He had already, as has been before mentioned, visited the 
continent on the same errand, where many had been converted by 
his labours ; but since that time such an accession had been made 
to these bv different Quakers, who had travelled there, that meet- 
ings bath for worship and discipline had in some instances been 
established among them. He had besides many correspondents, 
and invitations from various persons in these parts. It happened 
also at this time, while the religious visit in question occupied his 
mind, that he received a letter from Elizabeth, Princess Palatine 
■of the Rhine, before mentioned, which, as it showed her kind dis- 
position towards him, as well as the modest and pious frame of hec 
mind, could not but have the effect of inclining him still more to- 
wards the same course. This letter was in answer to one of his 
own, and ran thus : 

" This, my Friend, will inform you that both your letters were 
acceptable, together with your wishes for my obtaining those vir- 
tues which mav make me a worthy follower of our great King and 
Saviour Jesus Christ. What I have done for his true disciples is 



OF WILLIAM PENJf, 73 

not SO mucii as a cup of cold water. It affords them no refresh- 
ment. Neither did I expect any fruit of my letter to the Duchoss 

of L , as 1 expressed at the same tin)e to B. Furiey. liut as 

R. Barclay desired I would write it, 1 could not refuse him, uor 
emit to do any thing that was judj^ed conducing to his liberty, 
tliough it should expose me to the derision j-f the world But this 
a mere moral man may reach at; the true inward graces aie yet 
wanting in your affectionate friend, " Elizabeth." 

Called upon then by the religious workings of his own mind, and 
additionally by such favourable circumstances, William Penn pre- 
pared for his journey. At length he took leave of his wife and 
family, and passing through London, and visiting his mother in his 
way through Essex, he reached Harwich, from whence, after at- 
tending a meeting for worship, in which he says " He felt ablessed 
earnest of the divine love and presence which should accimpany 
him on his voyage," he v*ent on board the packet, and set sail for 
the Dutch coast. 

George Fox, Robert Barclay, and several others of the society 
accompanied him, all of whom went on the same errand, but each 
according to what he conceived to be his appointed course. It ap- 
pears that they held religious meetings while on board, and that 
they were particularly well accommodated, the captain of the 
packet having served un(fer Vice-Admirai Sir William Penn. 

After landing at the Brill they proceeded to Rotterdam. During 
their stay there they had two meetings, at which, says William 
Penn in his usual energetic manner, " the Gos|jel was preached^ 
the dead were raised, and the living comforted." 

They went next to Leyden, and from thence to Harlem, where 
they preached, and afterwards to Amsterdam. Here they organ- 
ized a system of discipline for such as had been converted by for- 
mer preachers, and held religious meetings, at which a mighty 
concourse of people attended, consisting of Baptists, Presbyteri- 
ans, Seekers, Socinians, and others. Letters arriving herefrom 
Dantzic, complaining of the sufferings which the Quakers under- 
went in that city, it was allotted to William Penn to write to the 
King of Poland in their behalf. 'Phis task he undertook. He ex- 
plained to the King in this letter, first, what the religious princi- 
ples of the Quakers really were. He then stated in a respectful 
manner, the reasons why they as a people absented themselves from 
the common ministry or worship, and concluded with an eloquent 
appeal to his reason to protect them in their religious rights. " Give 
us poor Christians," says he, " leave to expostulate with thee.- 
When did the true church offer violence for religion .'' V>'ere not 
her weapons prayers, tears, and patience ? Did not Jesus conquer 
by those weapons, and vanquish cruelty by suffering ? Can clubs, 
and staves, and swords, and prisons, and banishments reach the 
soul, convert the heart, or convince the understanding of man .^ 
W^hen did violence ever make a tr'ue convett, or bodily punishment 
a sincere Christian .'* This maketh void t'le end of Christ's com- 
ing, which was to save men's lives, and not to destroy them ; to 
persuade them, and not to force tlietn. Yr-a. it rohheth God's spir- 
it of its office, which is to convince the world. This is the sword 
K 



f4 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

by which the ancient Christians overcame. It was the apostles'" 
testimony that their weapons were not carnal but spiritual : but the 
practice of their pretended successors proveth t'lat their weapons 

are not spiritual, out carnal. Suppose we are tares, as the true 

wheat hath alw.ys been called, yet pluck us not up for Christ's 
sake, who saith. Let the tares and the wheat grow up until the har- 
vest, that is, until the end of the world. Let God have his due as 
well as Cfesar. The judgment oi conscience helongeth unto him, 
and mistakes about retigwn are known to lihn adme. And here 
give me leave to remind thee of a noble saying of one of thy an- 
cestors, Stephen, King of Poland : ' 1 am King of men, not of con- 
sciences ; King of bodies, and not of sou's.' " 

Leaving George Fo\ at Amsterdam, they went through Naerden 
to Osnaberg. William Penn had been about six years before at 
the inn where he was then to sleep. Durina the evening they 
conversed with the master of it on the subject of religion, and pre- 
sented him with several books containing the principles of their 
society, not only that he might read himself, but distribute them 
to others : and here I may observe, to prevent repetition, that it 
was their practice to do the same thing as they travelled along, 
conversing in like manner with and giving books to such passen- 
gers as the boats or waggons were accustomed to bring to their 
own quarters. 

The next day they arrived at Herwerden, where Elizabeth, the 
Prin'cess Palatine, before spoken of, held her court, and with 
whom the Countess of Homes, as before mentioned, lived as a 
companion. 

The next morning at seven* they waited upon her by appoint- 
ment, and were received both by the Princess and Countess witli 
such extraordinary expressions of kindness as deeply affected them. 
This conduct on the part of persons in such an elevated station 
confirmed their hope, that the great day of the restoration of Chris- 
tianity was approaching. William Penn, cherishing this feeling, 
delivered himself as a preacher before th.em. His brethren follow- 
ed him in like manner ; so that the visit, which in fact was a reli- 
gious meeting, was not over till eleven. On withdrawing they 
were invited to dinner, but they excused tliemselves. In the af- 
ternoon they returned to the palace, where not only the Princess 
and Countess but several others were ready to receive them. A 
meeting for worship then begun according to the custom of the 
Quakers. " It was at this meeting," says William Penn. " that 
the Lord in a more eminent manner began to appear." The hear- 
ers are said to have been greatly affected. The preachers also 
■were not less so ; for when the meeting was over, which lasted till 
seven in the evening they returned to tlieir lodgings with hearts 
full of thanksgiving (ur the meicies bestowed upon them on that 
day. 

The next being the day on which the Princess received address- 

* Itappears from the journal from vvhidi this account is taken that the Princess 
jmist have breakfasted between six and seven, dined at one. and supped at eight f 
lours of mea], which afford a striking contrast to those of modern times. 



OF AVILXIAM PENN. 7$ 

■es and petitions, they did not obtain an audience of her till nine 
o'clock. A meeting was then held, at which all the inferior ser- 
vants of her household were ordered to attend. In the afternoon 
tliey visited I)er again. During this visit William Penri performed 
a promise which he had made in the morning, that he would giv^ 
an account of his conversion, and of those tribulations and conso- 
lations which he had experienced in the pi-osecution of his religious 
professions. He accordingly began ; but before he had finished 
his narrative the supper was announced. They then withdrew to 
another room. Two persons were present at this, who were not 
on any of the former occasions, a sister to the Countess of Homes, 
and a French lady. After supper they returned to their first 
apartment. William Penn then resumed and continut^d his histo- 
ry, and at eleven he and his friends took their leave and departed 
for their inn. 

On the third day they assembled for worship again, when, by an ar- 
rangement previously made, not only the family but several of tlie in- 
habitants oithe town were present. '• This meeting," says William 
Penn, " began with a weighty exercise and travail in prayer, that God 
would glorify his name on that day :" and in describing the effect 
of it he speaks thus, "■ and by his own power he made way to their 
consciences, and sounded his wakening trumpet in their ears, that 
they might know that he was God, and that there was none like 

unto him.' Yea, the quickening power and life of Jesus wrought 

and reached them ; and virtue from him, in whom dwelleth the 
Godhead bodily, went forth and blessedly distilled upon us his 
own heavenly life, sweeter than the pure frankincense, yea, than 
the sweet-smelling myrrh, which cometh from a fitr country. And 

as it began, so it was carried on, and so it ended." And as the 

effect is desci ibed to have been great both upon the preachers and 
upon the hearers, so upon no one more than the Princess, who was 
so overcome, that when she went to William Penn after the meet- 
ing to take leave of him, she could scarcely find utterance for her 
words. 

At length they left Horwerden. R. Barclay returned to Am- 
sterdam ; but William Penn and the rest proceeded to Paderborn, 
and from thence to Cassel, where many are said " to have tender- 
ly and lovina;Iy received them ;" among whom was one " Dureus, 
a man of seventy-seven years of age, who had forsaken his learn- 
ing and school-divinity for the teachings of the Holy Spirit." 
Travelling on after this, they were met within three miles of 
Franklort by two of its inhabitants, who informed them that, hav- 
ing been made previously acquainted with their route, they had 
come out to meet and welcome them, and to conduct them to that 
city. 

They staid there two days, during which they held meetings at 
private houses, where several both of the Calvinistic and Luther- 
an persuasion were converted, particularly Joanna Eleonora de 
Merlau, a young lady of noble birth. The impression made at the 
last of these meetings is said to have been more pov/erful than on 
any former occasion. Here W'illlam Penn, encouraged by the 
great progress he had made in what he conceived to be the Truth, 



76 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

wrote a long letter "To the Churches of Jesus throughdut th^ 
World." By churches he meant those individuals in a country, 
whether in Germany or elsewhere, who professing the same prin- 
ciples as the Quakers, were, though scattered in various parts, 
*' gathered and settled in the Divine Light and Spirit, to be one 
holy flock and family to the Lord." This letter exhibits, what I 
have before explained, tiie belief which tiie early Quakers had, that 
they had a divine commission for the restoration of primitive Chris- 
ianity ; for '• God," says he in tliis letter, "• hath laid upon us, 
whom he hath honoured with the beginning of his great work in 
the world, the care both of this age and of ages to come." Jn this 
letter he *' reminded those who professed the true faith, that, what- 
ever trials had befallen them on account of such a profession, they 
had never been finally forsaken, hut had found strength equal to 
their burthens. He admonished them, that, having once tasted the 
good word of God, they ought not to lose it and tiiusfall into temp- 
tation. He exhorted them, above all things, to esteem the cross 
of Christ, to crucify tliemselves as to the world, to disentangle 
themselves of its cares and vanities ; not to gratify the lust of the 
eye, the lust of the flesh, and tlie pridp of life, but to redeem their 
time : such as were )-ich he advised not to heap up their riches, but 
to keep themselves in moderation, and to tlo good ; such of them as 
■were poor, not to murmur, but to he patient; and such as were 
then suffering, to persevere on account of the far more exceeding 
■weight of glory which was at hand." 

Having left Frankfort, they arrived by the way of Worms at 
Krisheim. Here tliey held a meeting:, notwithstanding the inspec- 
tor of tlie Calvinists liad ordered the Vaught or chief officer to pre- 
vent it. Of the persons then assembled a coach full of passengers 
from Worms made a part, among whom was a governor of that 
country, and one of the chief Lutheran priests. Hearing that the 
Elector Palatine of Heydelburg granted indulgence to tliose reli- 
gious people within his dominions who could not conscientiously 
submit to the national worship, they went to Manheim to see him ; 
but, not finding him at home, they returned to Krisheim. At a 
meeting there the next day " the divine power is said to have been 
sweetly opened to many." It appears that the Vaught himself, 
■who had stood at the door behind the barn, where he could hear 
but not be seen, was so impressed as to have carried a good report 
of it to his employer. In the evening another meeting took place; 
but this was a select one, consisting onlv of those who, in conse- 
quence of the visits of former Quakers, had adopted the principles 
of the society. And here it may be remarked, that in no place 
were the fruits of tl'.is early preaching more conspicuous than at 
Krisheim ; for several of its inhabitants emigrated to Pennsylvanid 
on the settlement of that country by William Penn, where many 
of their descendants are to he seen as Quakers at the present day. 

From Krisheim thev went, accompanied by several persons, to 
Worms, and from Worms to INIentz, and from Mentz, to Frank- 
fort again. Here they returned to their old quarters, visited their 
old friends, and held three meetings, of which one was a silent one 
far such as " had appeared to be more inwardly affected wit!\. 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 77 

Truth's teslimoiiy," and tlie other for all persons indiscriminately 
who would attend it. 

Leaving Frankfort, and passing through IV'entz, Hanipuch, Ba- 
cherach, Coblentz, Tressy. and Cologne, at which last phice tl ey 
both visited individuals and preached, they arrived at Duysburg. 
'J"he person friendly to them there was Dr. Maestricht, a civilian. 
On inquiring o( him, ''if there were not retired and seeking persons in 
the neighbourhood," he informed them that he knew a young Coun- 
tess, the daughter of the Graef or Earl of Falckensteyn and Bruck, 
who answered this description This, he said, was the very tinie 
to see her; for, being Sunday, she would spend the day at the 
house of the minister of Mulheim, which was on the opposite side 
of the river to her father's castle. He oftered them a letter of in- 
troduction to her; but tiiey must be shy of making themselves 
knov/n,not only for their own sakes, but for that of the young lady, 
for that she Iiad been severely treated by her father on account of 
the religious bias of her mind, thcugh he pretended to be a Protes- 
tant. L'pon this they set otf ; but they did not reach Mulheim till 
after she had refuriied home. They wrote her therefore a letter, 
which she answered by saying, that " she would most willingly 
come to them if shp could, and that t^e minister's house at Mul- 
heim should in that case be the place for conversing v. ith them | 
but that she was not her ow n mistress." Soon after this, as they 
were walking near tlie cnstle.the Giitef himself came out, and see- 
ing them liabited as stranj.ers demanded who they were, and from 
whence they came Tlu-y replied, they were F/nglishmen arrived 
from Holland, and that tl^ey were going no further in these parts 
than to his o\vn town of Mulheim. A^ t'ley had not paid him the 
homage whi( h was expected from them, some ot his attendants 
asked if they knew before whom thev were, and if tl.ey did not 
use t(» deport themselves in a different manner before Noblemen 
and in the presence of Princes They replied, they were not con- 
scious to themselves of any disrespect or unseendy behaviour. 
One of them sharply replied, Why do you not then pull off your 
hats .'' Is it respectful to stand coveied in the presence of tlie Sov- 
ereign of the country .? They told him it was tieir practice so to 
do in the presence of tlteir own Sovereign, who was a g?-eat King, 
anil that tlicy nev^ir uncovered tl'eir head hut in the performance 
of their devotion to the Almighty. Upon this the Graef said. Wei 
have no need of Quakers bere. Get out of my dominions. You 
shall not gotoMnllieim. TiieytoUl him thev were an innocentpeo- 
ple, who feared Gtsd. and had a good v\ill tow aids all men ; that 
they had a due respect in their hearts towards bin), and wmdd be 
glad to do him anv real good : hut that it had become a matter of 
conscience with them not to confoim to the vain and fruitless 
customs of the world, Ujion this he ordered soldiers to take 
them out of bis dominions. Tliese. haviuir done tlieir duty, left 
them to pursue their course, which they did through a dreary wood 
of three miles : after which travelling on. they leturned to the 
walls of Duysburg ; l^ut it being between nine and ten at night, the 
gates were shut, so thnt theie was no a«lmiss'on for them. In this 
situatiori they waited in the fields till the morning, when they re- 



78 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

turned to their inn. William Penn, after his return there, wrote 
a letter to the young Countess, which he began thus : " Though 
thou art unknown to me, yet art thoH much beloved for the sake of 
thy desires and breathings of soul after the living God ; the report 
whereof by some in the said estate hath made deep impression of 
true kindness upon my spirit, and raised in me a very iervent and 
wngular inclination to visit thee ; and the rather because of that 
suffering and tribulation thou hast begun to endure for the sake of 
real towards God, myself having from my childhood been both a 
seeker after the Loid, and a great suiFerer for that cause from par- 
ents, relations, companions, and the magistrates of this world ; 
the remembrance whereof hath so much the more endeared thy 
condition unto me, and my soul hath often, in the sweet sense and 
feeling of the holy presence of God and the precious life of his 
clear Son in my heart, with great tenderness implored his divine 
assistance unto thee, that thou mayest be both illuminated to do 
and made willing to suffer for his namp sake, that the Spirit of God 
and of Glory may rest upon thy soul." He concluded by ex- 
plaining to her his opinion as to what were the true principles of 
the Christian religion, and by giving her encouragement to follow 
them. After this he wrote a letter to her father, of which the fol- 
lowing is the introductory sentence : " I wish thee salvation, and 
the Lord reward good for the evil which thou showedst unto me 
and my friends last night, if it be his will ; but since thou art but 
a mortal man, one who must give an account in common with all 

to the immortal God, let me a little expostulate with thee." . 

He then reasoned with him on the subject of his late conduct. 

From Duysburg they proceeded to Utrecht. On going through 
Wesel on their way thither they held two meetings, which were well 
attemled. AtRees they had a good opportunity with a counsellor,at 
Emric with an eminent Baptist preacher, and at Cleves with a lady of 
quality, and two persons of note, her visitors, with whom they din- 
ed. The lady is described to have been ^' a woman of great wit, 
high notions, and very ready utterance, so that it was very diffi- 
cult to sbtain a true silence, a state in which alone she could be 
reached. In process of time, however, her spirit yielded, and the 
witness was raised in her, and they really and plainly beheld a 
true nobility in her, yea, that which was sensible of their testi- 
mony." 

At Utrecht they parted company to go to different places ; but 
"William Penn, accompanied by P. Hendrick, proceeded to Am- 
sterdam. He beheld \Vith satisfaction the great increase of con- 
verts in that city since he had left it. Having held two meetings, 
which were numerously and respectably attended, he visited Horn, 
Enckhuysen, Worcum, and Harlingen. At the latter place he 
met George Fox. He attended there two meetings, one for mem- 
bers of the society, and the other a public one, to which people of 
various religious denominations resorted, and among the rest a 
doctor of physic and a Presbyterian minister. All sat with great 
attention, but particularly the two latter, who were so impressed 
with the preaching of George Fox, that though they were obliged 
to leave the meeting, the one to deliver a sermon to his congrega* 



«r WILLIAM PENN. ft) 

tion, and the otlier to visit his patients, thej could scarcely with= 
draw from it. The former indeed, " as a man in pain to be gone, 
yet willing to stay, sat at the door till George Fox had done, and 
then stood up, and pulling oft' his hat, and looking up to Heaven, 
in a solemn manner and with a loud voice spake to this purpose : 
* The Almighty, the all-wise, the omnipotent great God, and his 
Son Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever and ever, confirm his. 
word that hath been spoken this day!" Both of them, however, 
when they had performed their engagements, returned to the place 
again. 

William Penn, leaving Geoi-ge Fox, and taking J. Glaus a con- 
verted Dutchman for his companion, went to Leeu warden. The 
meeting there was largely attended, and consisted of persons who 
had never been present at one before. He then proceeded to 
Wiewart, a mansion-house of one of the Somerdykes, who were 
" people of great breeding and inheritances." In this m.ansion aS 
in a college lived several persons, who made up a religious socie- 
ty or church of their own, and lived in love and harmony together. 
J. de Labadie, who was then dead, had established it. This person 
wasonceaJesuit,buthaddesertf'dhisorder,and embraced the Prot- 
estant religion. Ivon was then the hea<l pastor to this little flock, 
and Du Lignon his assistant. Among the occupiers of the mansion 
were three of the Somerdykes, daughters of a nobleman of that name 
to whom it belonged, and an ancient maiden lady of the name of An- 
na Maria Schurmans. The latter was about sixty years of age She 
was of great note for learning in languages and philosophy, and had 
obtained a considerable place among the most learned men of that 
age. These then, with several others, havingbeen affected by thedis- 
courses of He Labadie, aud awakened to seek after a more spirit- 
ual fellowship, had separated themselves from the common Calva- 
nistic assemblies, and, having followed him in the way of a refin- 
ed independency, had established themselves in this place. They 
formed altogether a serious and plain people, and approached near 
to the Quakers in many points, such asin silent meetings, women's 
exhortations there, preaching by the Spirit, and plainness both in 
their dress and in the furniture of their houses. William Penn 
having heard of these singular people, liad determined upon visit- 
ing them. On being introduced to Anna Maria Schurmans' apart- 
ments, he found almost all the party there. He was particularly 
anxious to know what it was that had induced them to separate 
from the common way in which they had fornierlv lived. Upon 
this Ivon beiran bv giving the history of J. de Labadie's education 
and life. Anna Maria Schurmans followed, giving an account of 
her former life, of her conversion under the ministry of De Laba- 
die, and of her present religious state. One of the Somerdykes 
related, next, her own spiritual experience. This she did in a 
reverent frame of mind, going over the same ground and touching 
upon the same points as the former. After her Du Lignan gave 
the reasons which had induced him to become a pasfor tliere. A 
doctor of physic spoke next. Among other things he stated him- 
self to have been bred up at the University for the Church ; that 
he had studied there with the character of a serious person, but 



60 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFK 

that he had never experienced a living sense of what divine things 
were till he heard J. de Labadie : and that in consequence he left 
the University and became one of the family at the mansion.' ■ 
William Penu was hig!dy gratified with this narrative, and return- 
ed the civility by giving an account of his own life and conversion, 
labours, sufferings, and travels up to the present time, which he 
concluded by religious exhortation and advice. Rising up at 
length to depart, they gave him their hands in a friendly manner, 
and the two pastors and the doctor accompanied him to the post 
waggon which was to convey him the next stage. 

After this he held two meetings, one at Lippenhausen, and the 
other at Groningen. Fx-om thence he went to Delfzyl, where he 
took boat for Erabden. While on his passage there he wrote a 
letter, which is extant, " To Friends every where concerning the 
present Separatists and their Spirit of Separation." This allud- 
ed to a schism which had taken place on the subject of discipline 
among the Quakers in England. Having landed, he visited the 
mother and sister of the late Or. Hashert, who had been the first 
Quaker in that place. The society having been bitterly persecut- 
ed there, and tlie members of it scattered by banishment, he call- 
ed upon Dr. Andrews, President of the Council of State, who was 
repoited to have been the author of such oppression. He inform- 
ed him, that he was the Englishman who about two years before 
had written a Latin letter to the Council of Embden on that sub- 
ject. He wondered how he. Dr. Andrews, " being a Common- 
wealth's man and a Protestant," could persecute for religion. Ho 
then argued the case with him, and this so successfully as to ob- 
tain a promise from him that he would use his interest with the 
Council, if he, William Penn, would address to them another 
letter. 

The next place he went to was Leer, and afterwards Bremen. 
He visited four persons in this last city, and had a religious 
opportunity with others who were staying at his own inn. 

After hard travellinK for two days lie arrived again at Herwer- 
den, the residence of the Princess Elizabeth as before mentioned. 
Among those whom he met at her court was the Graef of Donau. 
They soon fell into conversation with each other. The points in 
discussion were the nature and end of Christianity, and the way 
which led to eternal rest. Both agreed, after a short debate, 
" that self-denial and mortification and victory therein were the 
duty, and therefore ought to be the endeavour, of every true Chris- 
tian." William Penn then gave the Graef some account of his 
retreat from the world, and explained his inducements to it, and 
the necessity of an inward work. After this the conversation 
turned, on the 9ugo:estion of the Graef, upon the custom of taking 
off the hat as a tnatter of respect. 'William Penn laboured to prove 
that this custom was a weed of degeneracy and apostacy, a carnal 
and earthly honour, and the effect as well as t'^e feeder and pleaser 
of a vain mind. He showed, next, " wherein the sincere and ser- 
viceable respect consisted, which Truth substituted in the place 
thereof,", and finally, exhorted him to simplicity and humility of 
spirit. I shall only observe, that while he staid at Herwerden he 



O? WILLIAM PEN», 81 

held his religious meetings, and was treated with the same friend- 
ship and attention as before. In taking his leave, vvhicli was a fi- 
nal one, he was much aft'ected. He bade farewell to the Princess, 
felling upon his knees, and asking the divine blessing for her pres- 
ervation. He then tenderly exhorted the Countess, her compan- 
ion, who implored his prayers in her behalf. He addressed him- 
self next to the French lady of quality before mentioned, whom lie 
desired te be faithful and constant to that which she knew. He 
then spoke to the rest, giving to each separately such advice as he 
judged to be suitable to their condition. 

Getting into the post waggon, in company with his friend J. 
Claus, he resumed his travels. In this waggon, which was cover- 
ed only by a ragged sheet, he rode three nights without lying down 
upon a bed, or sleeping The passengers were much straitened 
for room. Most of the rn, on the approach of evening, sung what 
v/ere called Luther's hymns or psalms. This custom troubled 
him ; for he had had occasion to obserrc thattheir conversation was 
generally very vain, and therefore he took an opportunity of tes- 
tifying against it ; " for to be full of all vain and often of profane 
talk in one hour, and to sing psalms to God in the next, was de- 
ceit and an abomination." As he proceeded through Lipstad, 
Ham, and other places, he and the passengers held discourses up- 
on what was the nature of that religion and worship which was 
most Christian. At length after a continued journey of two hun- 
dred miles he was again at Wescl. Here, and at Duysburg, Dus- 
seldorp, Cologne, and Cleves, he employed himself in visiting old 
friends, making new ones, and otherwise promoting the object of 
his journey. 

At Amsterdam, where he arrived again by tlie way of Nimme- 
guen and Utrecht, he was engaged in a public dispute. Galenug 
Abrahams, the great father of the Socinian Menists in these parts, 
denied that there was any new Christian dispensation or apostol- 
ical commission then going on in the world by the instrumentality 
of the Quakers. This denial was to become the subject of discus- 
sion. Both parties went to the place of meeting, Galenus Abra- 
hams attended by several preachers and others of his own congre- 
gation, and William Penn by George Fox and a body of Quakers. 
At length the dispute began : but all v/e know of it is, that it last- 
ed from eight in the morning till one in the afternoon, and this 
successively for two days. 

The meeting being over, he proceeded witli George Fox by the 
way of Levden to the Hague, and from thence to Delft, and from 
thence to Rotterdam. He employed himself, while in this city, in 
visiting Friends and friendly people ; in holding public meetings, 
which were numerously and respectably attended ; and in writing 
letters, which he intended to leave behind him on his return to 
England, in order that they might be printed and circulated 
throughout Germany. The first of these was " A Call or Sum- 
mons to Christendom to prepare for the great and notable Day of 
the Lord, which was then at hand." He appealed through the 
medium of this Summons to different denominations of persons ; 
to Catholics ; to Evangelicals or Gospellers j tothe Reformed, in- 
L 



8$ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

eluding all the subdivided Sects ; to degenerated, fallen, and titu» 
lar Christians ; to Kings and Princes; to Nobles ; to Judges ; to 
Lawyers ; to Merchants ; to Farmers and Country-People ; and to 
Priests and Pastors. He exposed with great boldness the difter- 
ent failings of these, and endeavoured to impress upon them what 
belonged to their relative situations in life. His language was 
clear, nervous, and animated. It was enriched by metaphor and 
scriptural expressions, and manifested the pen of a ready writer. 
The second was" An Address, by way of Advice, to those who were 
sensible of this Summons or Call, wherever scattered throughout 
the World." He exhorted these to dwell in the Spirit which God 
had begotten in their hearts ; to be careful, having once come out 
of the world, to keep out of it ; to beware of, and therefore to ex- 
amine, their own thoughts and imaginations ; to .watch against 
their own will, that it might be kept under due subjection ; to be 
frequent in waiting upon God ; not to be discouraged or overpow- 
ered by afflictions or persecutions, but to hold fast to Christ. On 
each of these topics he enlarged in a spiritual manner. The third 
was " An Address to those Professors of Christianity who sepa- 
rated themselves from the visible Sects or Churches of the Times;" 
and the fourth " A tender Visitation to those, but particularly 
among the High and Low Dutch Nations, who desired to know 
and worship God in Sincerity and Truth : containing a plain Tes- 
timony to the ancient and apostolical Life, Way and Worship, 
•which God was then reviving in the Earth." Of the contents of 
the two latter I must leave the reader to judge by their titles. 

Hearing that a nobleman, a man of serious and retired habits, 
lived at the village of Wonderwick, he and G. Fox made an ex- 
cursion to visit him. The nobleman, on learning their errand, in- 
vited them in. His house was stately, but yet plain. On receiv- 
ing them he shook them by the hand, and bade them welcome. 
As soon as they were properly seated, he gave them a sober and 
pathetic account of his life and religious experience. When this 
was over, he took them into another room, where he introduced 
them to his wife, under the name of some Christian Friends who 
had come to see her. She received them kindly. Having sat in 
silence f(»r some time after the manner of the Quaker ministers, 
William Penn delivered a discourse. He began by proving the 
proposition, that death had reisrned from Adam to Christ. He then 
explained what Christ's day was. He showed, next, that though 
this day had come, there were but few who had seen it. He then 
pointed out the way which led to Christ, and what it was to be in 
him. and under the government of his grace ; " directing them to 
the blessed principle, which God had slied abroad in their hearts;" 
and concluded by declaring the nature and manner of the appear- 
ance and operation of this piinciple, and by appealing to their own 
consciences for the truth of it. This discourse appears to have 
had a powerful effect upon t!ie hearers, and even upon William 
Penn himself: for he was so affected by what had come unexpect- 
edly from his own mouth, that he felt himself constrained to kneel 
down and pray. " Great hrokenness." says he, " fell upon all, 
and that which was before the world began was richly manifested 



OF WILLIABI PENN, §3 

in and among us." The nobleman and his wife then blessed their 
visitors, and the work which was in their hands. They consider- 
ed, they saiti, their house as blessed for their sakes, and expressed 
great thankfulness that they had lived to see them. 

Returning to Rotterdam, he held two meetings, the one a public 
one, in whicli he took leave of the country ; and the other a select 
one, that is, for those of the society only, whom he exhorted earn- 
estly to grow up as a holy people. After this he proceeded to the 
Briil, and from thence went on board the packet. During the 
whole passage there was a dreadful storm of wind, rain, and hail 
intermixed. The weather was entirely against them, and the ves-^ 
sel so leaky, that, unless two pumps had been going night and day, 
it must iiave foundered. There were also many passengers on 
board, so that they were in each other's way. Some of the seamen 
were near being washed overboard. At length they arrived at 
Harwich, but not till after they had been three nights and two days 
at sea. Here, says he, it was observable, speaking of the passen* 
gers, that, "though they had experitnced such wonderful preser- 
vation, some of the inconsiderate soon forgot it, and returned 
quickly to their wanton talk and conversation, not abiding in the 
sense of that hand which had delivered them." 

After landing at Harwich, he rode on horseback to London, 
stopping, and attending several meetings in his way. He staid al- 
so in London a few days for the same purpose. He then went 
down to his seat at Worminghurst in Sussex, where he arrived af- 
ter an absence of about three months and ten days, and after a 
journey in the service of the Church of nearly three thousand 
miles within that period. He had the pleasure, to use his own 
words, " to find his dear wife, child and family well. Blessed be 
the name of the Lord God of all the families of the earth !" And 
here, as a proof of tlie constantly pious frame of his mind, and of 
his constant thankfulness to the Divine Being for benefits already 
received, and of his reliance upon him for those to come, it must 
not be omitted, that on the afternoon of his arrival he assembled 
all his family for worship, thus making the first fruits of bis do- 
mestic meeting an oblation to the Father of all mercies. This lit- 
tle meeting is described by him to have been " a sweet meeting, in 
which the divine presence made them glad tug'ther," and in which, 
he was sensible, whatever sacrifices he had made by his journey, 
that " they were blessed who could cheerfully give up to serve the 
Lord." 

Having reposed for two or three weeks with his family, he went 
to London, from whence he addressed a letter to John Pennyman 
on the subject of his apnstacy. In about a month after this wc 
find him at Bristol. Here he, G Fox, C. Marshall, and others, 
held tlie great dispute with William Rogers, and some of the sepa- 
rat'.sts, on the subject of church discipline. Rogei s, who was a 
merchant of Bristol, and who had joined the society, had attacked 
Robert Barclay's " Anarchy of tlie Ranters," and hsnl been so de- 
feated bv the reply, as to have acknowledged his error under his 
own hand. Notwithstanding this, he had afterwards publisbed 
Tiis objections to the same work, and had been defeated by R. Bar- 



84 MEMOIRS O? THE LIFE 

clay again. Not even yet satisfied, he had lately circulated papers 
on the same subject, and this it was that at length brought him to 
such a public settlement of the affair between them. 

After the controversy, William f^enn returned to London, and 
from thence to Worminghurst. While he was at home, he wrote 
letters to his friends in Germany, which have been preserved, such 
as to J. Claus. and P'. Hendricks, who were in part companions of 
his late travels, and to others who belonged to the Quaker-Church- 
es, which had been established there. 1 see no occasion to lay 
these letters before the reader, for they are mostly of the same 
cast. He makes one general use of them, namely, to encourage 
his friends, as young persons or beginners in the faith, to put them 
in mind of the great principle on which they became a religious so« 
ciety, and to recommend to them peace and union with each other. 



>-;:«■♦»• 



CHAPTER XIV. 

•tf. 167S-^continueshis'manas:emenf of West JWu' Jersey — sends iwty 
other vessels there- — "petitions Parliament in behalf of the persecut" 
ed Quakers — is heard by a committee of the ( ommons—-his tivo 
speeches before them — remarks iipon these — writes " ^ brief ^n- 
swer to a false and foolish LibeV"^ — also '' An Epistle to the Chil- 
dren of Light in this Generation.^^ 

William Penn continued active in his station as a trustee for 
Byllinge. He had, as we have seen before, in conjunction with 
his colleagues, sent off Fonwick in the ship Griffith, accompanied 
by several families, to take possession of (lie land in West New 
Jersey, which had been purchased of the Lord Berkeley. This 
was in 1676. In the last year, 1677, he had dispatched commis- 
sioners, and three vessels, carrying no less than four hundred 
and fourteen passengers, proprietors, with their servants and chil- 
dren, to the same parts. In the early part of the present year, he 
was employed in the same manner. He had influence to freight 
two other ships, one from London, and the other from Hull, with 
persons on the same errand ; so that now about eight hundred set- 
tlers, mostly Quakers and persons of property and character, had 
set sail for the new land. 

But while he was thus occupied in the arrangement of these his 
foreign concerns, his attention was called to the situation of things 
at home, and particularly as they related to his own religious so- 
ciety. In the early parts of this year, the differejit acts which had 
been enacted against the Roman Catholics, began to be enforced 
with extraordinary rigour. ( )nly a few years before, the great fiie 
in London had taken place, the cause of which had been imputed 
to them. The fires on St. Margaret's Hill, and in Soutliwark, 
which followed, had been attributed to them also. And now, to 
add to the public consternation, a design of a most wicked and 



«F WILLIAM PEKN. 85 

mischievous nature was said to have been discovered, which, on 
account of its nature and intended effects, was denominated The 
Popish Plot. Under tliese circumstances both the Parliament and 
the people were so incensed against the Roman Catholics, that all 
the laws which had been passed against them were pressed to their 
full length Hence it happened that the Dissenters, against whom 
these laws were never intended, became unexpectedly the objects 
of them : for wherever Roman iLatiiolicism was suspected, it was 
sure of being put to tlie test. Now it happened that William Penn 
was considered by many to be a Jesuit, and this circumstance 
gave occasion to tliese to consider the Quakers, to whom he be- 
longed, in the same light. Hence almost immediately they 
experienced the same severe prosecutions in the Exchequer as 
the Roman Catholics for penalties of twenty pounds a month for 
absence from the national worship, or of two thirds of their es» 
tates for the like oflence, though tliere was actually no existing 
law against them. The evil then, as may be well supposed, 
where so many might be suspected, bad been carried to an alarm- 
ing length, of wliich the parliament itself had indeed become 
so sensible, that it took under its consideration a distinguishing 
clause in the bill against Popery, or a clause for the discrimination 
of Protestant Di«senters from Papists, so that they who would take 
the oath and subscribe the declaration therein contained, should 
not suffer by such laws. Now this measure, though reasonable in 
itself, and sufficieiit as it related to other Dissenters, was of no 
use to the Quakers : for, being unable on account of their religious 
tenets to swear at all, they had not even the door, which was in- 
tended them, for their escape. William Penn therefore drew up 
a petition in their behalf, which was presented to both Houses of 
Parliament, in Avhich he set forth their hard case, and requested 
that in the discriminating clause then in agitation, the word of a 
Quaker might he taken instead of his oath, with this proviso, that 
if any one of that description should utter a falsehood on such an 
occasion, he should be liable to the same punishment as if he had 
taken a false oath. 

The petition having been presented, he was admitted to a hear- 
ing before a Committee of the House of Commons, when he ad- 
dressed the members of it in the foiloM'ing nuinner : 

" If we ought to believe tliat it is our duty, according to the 
doctrine of the apostle, to be always ready to give an account of 
the hope that is in us. and this to every sober and private inquirer, 
certainly much more ought we to hold ourselves obliged to declare 
with all readiness, when called to it by so great an authority, what 
is not our hope ; especially when our very safety is eminently con- 
cerned in so doing, and when we canimit decline this discrimina- 
tion of ourselves from Papists without being conscious to ourselves 
©f the guilt of our own sufferings, for so must every man needs be, 
who suffers mutely under another character than that which truly 
belongeth to him and his belief 'I'hat which giveth me a more 
than ordinary right to speak at thi-^ time, and in this place, is the 
great abuse wliich I have received above anv other of my profes- 
sion ; for of a long time I have not only been supposed a Papist, 



^^ MEMomS OF THE LIFE 

but a Seminary, a Jesuit, an emissary of Rome, and in pay from 
the Pope ; a man dedicating my endeavours to the interest and ad- 
vancements of that party. Nor hath this been the report of the 
rabble, but the jealousy and insinuation of persons otherwise sober 
and discreet. Nay, some zealots for the Protestant religion have 
been so far gone in this istaice, as not only to think ill of us, and 
decline our conversation, butto take courage to themselves to pros- 
ecute us for a sort of concealed Papists ; and the truth is, that, 
what with one thing and what with another, we have been as the 
wool-sacks and common whipping-stock of the kingdom : all laws 
have been let loose upon us, as if the design were not to rejorm, 
but to destroy ;ts ; and this not fur what we arc, but for wli it we 
are not. It is hard that we must thus bear the stripes of another 
interest, and be their prox^tf in j}unishment ; but it is worse, that 
some men can please themselves in such a sort of administration. 
But mark : I would not be mistaken. I am far from thinking it 
fit, because I exclaim against the injustice of whipping Quakers 
for Papists, that I'apists should be whipped for their consciences. 
No : for though the hand, pretended to be lifted up against them, 
hath, I know not by what discretion, lighted heavily upon us, and 
we complain, yet we do not mean that any should take afresh aim 
at them, or that they should come in our room, for we must^ive the 
liberty we ask, and cannot be false to our principles, though it were 
to relieve ourselves ; for we have good will to all men, and would 
havf none suffer for a truly sober and conscientious dissent on any 
hand. And I humbly take leave to add, that those methods against 
persons so qualified do not seem to me to be convincing or indeed 
adequate to the reason of mankind ; but tliis I submit to your con- 
sideration. To conclude : I hope we shall be held excused of the 
men of that (the Roman Catholic) profession in giving this distin- 
guishing declaration, since it is not with design to expose them, 
but, first, to pay that regard we owe to the inquiry of this Com- 
mittee, and, in the next place, to relieve ourselves from the daily 
spoil and ruin which now attend and threaten many hundreds of 
families, by the execution of laws which we humbly conceive, were 
never made against us." 

Such was the speech of William Penn, and such was to be ex- 
pected from him, if he remained faithful to his former principles. 
They who declaim for liberty at home, but yet who would be 
friends to slavery in other lands ; or they who, while they make a 
noise about liberty civil and personal, would yet impose fetters on 
the religious freedom of the mind, show at once the inconsistency 
of their opinions, as well as that these proceed from a corrupt 
source. The true friend to liberty, on the other hand, who col- 
lects his notions concerning it from the pure and sacred fountains 
of truth and justice, feels no spirit of exclusion in his breast. That 
portion of it which he enjoys himself he wishes to be communicat- 
ed to others. He confines it not to climate. He limits it not to 
complexion or colour, but he is anxious that it should fly from re- 
gion to region, and extend itself, under a rational control, from the 
meridian to the poles. Such was the disposition manifested in 
this speech. William Penn had the courage to declare, and this 



»r WILLIAM PBNK. 87 

i>efore persons in authority, who could have no pleasant feelings 
towards those who should be well disposed to the Catholics, what 
he had maintained during his life, that it was unlawful to occasion 
others to suffer, even Catholics themselves, on account of a consci- 
entious religious dissfut. This fundamental proposition, which ex- 
tended to all, he would not deny or falsify, either to relieve him- 
self or his friends ; nor did he or they wish to enjoy the privileges 
it contained at the ea^pense or suffering of others, much less that 
this their intercession for themselves should occasion the Catholics 
to be rtiarked afresh. Bold as this language was, he offended no 
one. That which would havebeenof itself an oifensive sentiment, 
was lost or overlooked in the nobleness of those which followed it. 
The Committee, on the other liand, heard him with extraordinary 
attention. Their attention indeed was such as to have made a 
more than ordinary impression upon him ; and therefore, by way 
of grateful return, thinking he could do no less than unbosom 
himself to them on certain other subjects, (by which he and they 
whose cause he had then pleaded migiit be better known to them,) 
he addressed them a second time in the following words : 

" The candid hearing our sufferings have received from you, and 
the fair and easy entertainment you have given us, oblige me to 
add whatever can increase your satisfaction about us. 1 hope you. 
do not believe I would tell you a lie. 1 am sure I should choose 
an ill time and place to tell it in ; but I thank God it is too late in 
the day for that. There are some here who have known me for- 
merly. I believe they will say I Avas never that man : and it 
would be hard if, after a voluntary negUct of the advantages of 
this world, I should sit down in my retirement short of common 
truth. 

" Excuse the length of my introduction ; it is for this I make it. 
I was bred a Protestant, and that strictly too. I lost nothing by time 
or study. For years, reading, travel, and observations made the re- 
ligion of my education the religion of my judgment. My altera- 
tion hath brought none to that belief; and though the posture I am 
in may seem odd or strange to you, yet I am conscientious ; and, 
till you know me better, I hope your charity will call it rather my 
unhappiness than my crime. I do tell you again, and here solemn- 
ly declare, in the presence of ^Vlmighty God, and before you all, 
that the profession I now make, and the Society I now adhere to, 
have been so far from alteiingthat Protestant jiulj^ment I had, that 
I am notconsciousto myself of having receded from an iota of any one 
principle maintained by those first Protestants and Reformers of 
Germany, and our own m;irtyrs at home, against the see of Rome, 
On the contrary, I' do with great trutti assure you, that we are of 
the same negative faith with the ancient Prote^stant chui ch ; and 
upon occasion shall be ready, by God's assistance, to make it ap- 
pear, that we are of the same belief as to the most fundamental 
positive articles of her creed too : and tliprcfore it is, we tinnk it 
hard, that though we deny in common with her those doctrines of 
Rome so zealously protested against, (from whence the name Prot- 
estants,) yet that we should he so unhappy as to suffer, and that 
\vith extreme severity, by those very laws on purpose made against 



88 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

the maintainers of those doctrines which we do so deny. We 
chuse no suifering ; for GoJ knows what we have already suffer- 
ed, and liow many sufficieiit and trading families are reduced to 
great poverty by it. We think ourselves an useful people ; we 
are sure we are a peaceable people : yet, if we must still suffer, 
let u» not suffer as Popisii Recusants, but as Protestant Dissent* 
ers. 

" But I would obviate another objection, and that none of the 
least that hath been made against us, namely, that we are enemies 
to government in general, and particularly disaffected to that 
whi-Ji we live under. I think it not amiss, but very reasonable, 
yea, my duty, now to declare to you, and this I do witli good con- 
science, in the sight of Almighty God, first, that we believe gov- 
ernment to be God's ordinance ; and, next, that this present gov- 
ernment is established by the providence of God and the law of 
the land, and that it is our Christian duty readily to obey it in all 
its just laws, and wherein ive cannot comiily through tenderness of 
conscience, in ail such cases not to revile or conspire against the 
Government, but with Christian humility and patience tire out all 
mistakes about us, and wait the better information of those, who, 
we believe, do as undeservedly as severely treat us ; and I know 
not what greater security can he given by any people, or how awj 
government can be easier from the subjects of it. 

" I shall conclude with this, that we are so far from esteeming it 
hard or ill that this House hath put us upon this discrimination ; 
that on the contrary wc value it, as we ought to do, an high fa- 
vour, and cannot chuse but see and humbly acknowledge God's 
providence therein, that you should give us this fair occasion to 
discharge ourselves of a burthen we have not with more patience 
than injustice suffered but too many years under. And I hope 
our conversation shall always manifest the grateful sentiment of 
our minds for tlie justice and civility of this opportunity ; and so I 
pray God direct you." 

This speech also had a considerable effect upon the Committee. 
Indeed nothing more agreeable could have been offered them at 
this juncture than the explanation now given. The Quakers at 
that time laboured under the suspicion, in common with other 
Dissenters, that they were hostile to the Government, and that 
they might tlierefore watch for an opportunity of destroying it. 
William Penn, to do away this suspicion, laid before them the 
creed of the Quakers on this subject. These, when called upon 
by magistrates to do what their consciences disapproved, refused 
obedience to their order. No threats could intimidate them. Sat- 
isfied with such refusal, they bore with fortitude the sufferings 
which followed, and left to their oppressors the feelings only of 
remorse for their conduct. By such means they performed their 
duty to God in a quiet and peaceable manner, that is, they made no 
sacrifice of f heir just convictions, and yet they did not disturb the 
harmny of society or interrupt the progress of civil government 
by rebellion. At this time then, when the nation had been con- 
vulsed by civil wars and commotions, when the government had 
been frightened by reported plots and conspiracies, and when Dis- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. ^Si' 

senfers of all descriptions were considered only as peaceable be*, 
cause the cliaiiis in which they wereleld prevented tliem from be- 
ing otiierwise. it particularly became the Committee to ktutw, that 
they, whose petition was then before them, were persens who es- 
poused the opinion in question. And here a wide field for obser- 
vation wouUl present itself, if I had room for stating those thoughts 
which occur on this subject, involving no less than the question, 
How far mankind, when persecuted bv their respective Guvein- 
ments for matters relating to the conscience, have gained more ad- 
vantages to themselves in this respect hy open resistance, than by 
the Quaker-principle o< a quiet and peaceable submission to the 
penalties which the laws inflict ? To solve this we might look to 
the nature of the human mind, and then to examples from history. 
In taking a survc^y of the former, it would he obvious, that the op- 
pressor for religion (and indeed every other oppressor) would be- 
come irritated, and rendered still more vindictive, by opposition ; 
while, on tlie other hand, his mind might he softened by the sight 
of heroic suffering. To resistance he would attach nothing but a 
common, or perhaps an ignominious character, whereas he might 
give something more than a common reputation, nay, even nobili- 
ty, to patience and resignation under supposed injury. In pun- 
ishing the man who opposed him, he would lose all pity ; but his 
feelings might be called forth, where he saw all selfish notions done 
away, and the persecuted dying with satisfaction for a puhlic <;ood. 
Add to which, that he could not but think sometliing of the cause 
for which men thus thought it worth their while to perish. In look- 
ing at historical example, that of the apostles ,'ould first strike us. 
Had they resisted tlie Government or stirred up the multitudes, 
which attended them, to do it, they had lost their dignitv iind 
their usefulness. Tlieir resistance had been a bar to the progress 
of their religion, whereas their suffering is universallv confessed 
to have promoted it. The same may be said of those martyrs, after 
whom followed the Established Church ; nay, of the verv persons 
now in question ; for to the knowledire, which succeeding Govern- 
ments had, that it was the custom of the Quakers never to submit 
to the national authority in matters of conscience, and yet never 
to resist this authority by force, it is to be ascribed, that at this 
moment they enjoy so many privileges. They are allowed tp sol- 
emnize their own marriages. Their affirmation is received legal- 
ly as their oath. Exceptions are always ma< e in their favour in 
all x\ct8 of Parliament which relate to military service. And this 
reminds me, that if this principle could be followed up, I mean 
generally and conscientiously, sources (tf great misery might be 
done away. For if the great bulk of mankind were so enlighten- 
ed, either by scriptural instruction or divine agency, as to feel 
alike on the subject of any evil, and to feel conscientiously at the 
same time the absolute necessity of adhering to this principle as 
its cure, no such evil could be perpetrated by any Government. 
Thus, for example, if war were ever to be generally and conscien- 
tiously viewed in this light, how could it ever be carried on for 
ambitious or other wicked purposes, if men could be forced nei- 
ther by threats, imprisonment, corporal sufiering, nor the ex- 
M 



fli ifBMOlRB or TRE LIFS 

ample of capital punishments, to fight ? I do not mean here, 
if a common combination were to take place for such a purpose, 
t\\fi.i such an effect w(mld be produced. A combination, the result 
of mere policy, could never have in it sufficient virtue to stanti the 
ordeal to which it might be exposed on sich an occasion. It must 
be a general 'larmony of action, arising out of a vivid sense of the 
evil in question, and out of a firm conviction at the same tinie, that 
this was the remedy actually required as a ChrisHan duty, and 
that no ot!\er was allowed. In this point of view Chi istiauit}' con- 
tains within itself f/if" power of removing; the great evils nf wicked 
Governments, icithnut interrupting those oflier parts of their sys- 
tem which are of essential use to the good order, peace, and happi- 
ness of mankind. 

But to return. The two speeches of William Penn, as now 
<}noted, made a favourable impression on tSc Committee, so that 
thev agreed to insert a clause in the Bill tben in agitation for re- 
lief in the case complained of. This clause they reported to the 
Commons, and t'le Commons actually passed it. It was after- 
wards carried to the l^ords : but a sudden prorogation of Parlia- 
ment taking place before the Bill could be read a third time, the 
clause was rendered useless. 

I find two publications by William Penn in this year. An anon- 
ymous person had written " The Quakers' Opinions." This book 
contained a collection of the different religious tenets which the 
author supposed tlie Society to entertain, and- quotations from the 
writings of Fox, WMiitehead, and others, in confirmation of the 
same. William Penn wrote an answer to it, to which he affixed 
©nlv the name of " A brief Answer to a false and foolish liibel." 
His other publication w-as '* An Epistle to the Children of Light in 
this Generation." It was dated from Worminghurst, and written 
entirely on occasion of the times; for people's minds continued 
still in a state of alarm on account of the Popish plot. There 
were then apprehensions rdso about a French invasion : there was 
a belief, in short, tliat some dreadful storm was about to burst up- 
on the nation. W^illiam Penn therefore, anticipating that the 
members of his own Society might partake of the popular uneasi- 
ness, and that, by thus admitting earthly cares and fears, they 
might lose that heavenly Spirit which wmld best fit them to meet 
the distress which was coming on, wrote them this letter. He ex- 
horted them in it as an bighly professing people, that is, as the 
Children of Light in this Generation, to show an example ^vorthy 
of this their high calling, to thr(»w away as so much dross the fears, 
anxiety, and uneasiness of the world, to mount the watch-tower, 
to be in a state of preparation, and so to live in righteousness, as 
to be enabled to stand in the gap between tbe wickedness of the 
nation and the vengeance of God, confiding in him alone as their 
only solid support in time of trouble. 



OF WILLIAM PENN. Sft 



CHAPTER XV. 

^.1679 — continues his mana»;emmt of West J^Tew Jersey-^writes 
^^ Jn Mdresstn Protefitants of all Persuasions^^ — general con- 
tent^ of this ivnrk — icvHes a Preface to the IVorks of Samuel 
Fisher — also ' En^UnuPs great Interest in the Choice of a new 
PariiamcnV- — nssis's JUgemau Sidney in his election for Guild' 
ford — tu-o of his Letters to he latter — writes "• One Project for 
the Good of Ei'.gluud^^ — general contents of this work. 

In 1679 I find notlun« recorded of William Penn relative to the 
management ot'iiis American concerns. The truth is, that almost 
everything necessary for the peopling of West New Jersey hav- 
ini^ been agreed upon and executed by him and his colleagues, the 
lands havin;^ been mostly laid out and disposed of, and the politi- 
cal constit'ition of the c(dony fixod^ he had then little more to do 
than to extend to it his protecting vigilances 

With respect to aftairs at home, the nation was still restless and 
uneasy on account of tlie fear it entertained of designs for subvert- 
ing the Protestant religion and restoring Popery, in the preced- 
ing year William Penn, observing this its agitated state, had, as I 
have just stated, written an epistle to those of his own religious 
Society to prepare the>n against the calamities which were sup- 
posed to be then approaciiing. In the present he appealed to those 
of other religious denominations on the same subject. His appeal 
was entitled " \n x\ddress to Protestants of all Persuasions upon 
the present Conjuncture, more especially to the Magistracy and 
Clergy for the Promotion of Virtue and Charity." The contents 
of tliis book were peculiarly important, as the reader will perceive 
b}'' the following s|iecinien of its contents : 

He began by stating whathi^ conceived to be the great and cry- 
i-ng sins of the day, that is, t!iose which were then most notoriously 
prevalent. Upon eacii of these he dilated as to their nature and 
tendency; and then, addressing himself to the magistracy and 
clergy, he exhortesl these to examine themselves respecting the 
same, and to use the authority with which they were armed to dis- 
courage them in others. 

He then stated the objects of iiis address. The first of these 
wa-s, that God might be glorified. The second, that the Govern- 
ment might be preserved ; which could not but be weakened, where 
so mucli wickedness prevailed. In handling the latter topic he 
made use, among others, of the following observation : " No gov- 
ernment," savs he, " without the preservation of virtue, can main- 
tain its constitution, though it ho the very best that can be made. 
And however some particular men may prosper, who are wicked, 
and some private good men may miscarry in the things of this world, 
in which sense things may be said to happen alike to all, to the right- 
eous as to the wicked, yet I dare boldly affirm and challenge any 
man to the truth thereof, that in the many volumes of the history 
of all the ages and kingdoms of the world, there is not one in- 



^ MEMOIRS OT TH6 life 

stance to be found, where the han I of God was against a right- 
ous nation, or where it was not against an unrighteous nation first 
or last; nor where a just government perished, or an unjust gov- 
ernment long prospered. Kingdoms are rarely as short-lived as 
men. vet they also have a timi' to die ; but as temperance givetU 
health to men, so viitue gives time ti kingdoms; and as vice brings 
men betimes to the grave, so nation;* to their ruin." Having made 
t ds asse'tion. he supported it by a vast chain of historical evi- 
dence, drawn from the first kingom of antiquity under Ninirod, 
and continued through many others to the last, which was Home 
itself. From ancient he then proc-^eded to modern history, that 
is, he completed his facts relative to the same assertion, by con- 
tinuing the chain through tliose nations which sprung upaftei t!ic 
fall o'Rome, down to his own times. 

The third object of his address was, that posterity might be ben- 
fited. He observed here, among other things, that " there were 
few parents so vicious as not to dislike to see their children *o ; 
and yet nothing appeared plainer to him, than that as the former 
left the Government at their death, so the latter would find it. It 
vere far better that the world ended with the parents, than that 
these should transmit their vices, or should sow those seeds which 
would ripen to the ruin of their children, and fill their country with 
miseries, when they t lemselves were gone," 

Having finished his address, as it related to the great and prom- 
inent im noralities. he proceeded to the great and prominent er- 
to^s of the day. The first >;reat and prominent error was that of 
nnrflcins; opini'ma arHchs of faiths nnd of making tliem at the same 
iim" the bond of Christian communion. By opinions he meant 
propositions formed by men fi-om their own interpretation of the 
Scriptures, but which vv-ere neither expressly laid down in Scrip- 
ture, nor vet often well deducible from it ; that is, not so evident- 
ly deducible from it as not to be flonbtful to many who were y^t 
sincere believeis of the tfi\i. Ti'ese propositions, he said, were 
expressed, not in t'e language of Scripture, but often in the soph- 
istical terms of the schools, so that they were frequently unintel- 
ligil>le, and became theiefo'-e a bone of contention to many, and 
unhanpilv according as men received or denied them they were 
honoured or disgraced. Here he noticed, among other things, t!ie 
great noise which had been made about the Greek word Episcopos. 
He who maintained that it sigiified a higher office than the Greek 
"word Presbuteros. was to have no fellowship with one party ; and 
he wl o maintained the cort^ary, was considered as a degrader of 
episcopal dignity, and was to le punished by the other. From 
hence he passed to the divisions, heats, and animosities, which the 
debates about free will, election, and repn bation had protluced 
in the kingdom. Under \rchbishop Abbot one set of i('eas had 
prevailed upon these subjects, and under Archbishop Laud anoth- 
er, so that men hafl been reputed Heretics in turn, and fit only for 
excommunication as thev leceived the one or the other. He pro- 
ceeded then to the Svnod of Oort ; then to the flame kindled in 
Holland between Arminius and Episcopius for the RemonstrantSj 
and Gomarus, Sibrandus, and others, for the Predestinarians : 



OF WILLIAM PENTf. 9^, 

then to disputes about Easter Day, as if men's eternal happiness 
hati been iiivohed in tliif» question ; then to the tragical story of 
Alexander, bisliop of Alexandria, and Arius his priest ; and Jhen 
t<» t'le anathemas, banishments, Mars, and hluodshed, which fol- 
lowed upon t!'e question, whether the Greek word Hom(uisia of 
Himoiousia should be received for faitli. Amon^ the observations 
ma e upon some of t!.e forej^oinj^ I oints, i shall notice tlie fdliw- 

jng : •• We mu!?t do violence to oui- understandings, if we can 

think that tue m^n ichu hated their oretiir-n ano shed uneanother^s 
bl'iod. could be true Julian ers of that Jesus who loved his enemies, 

and ^ave his blood ior the world." ' I'ut how easily might all 

tnese confusicms have been prevented, if men's laitli about Christ 
h.ui bt-en delivered in the words of Scripture, since all sides pre- 
tend t(t believe the text ? And why should ariy m:!n presume to be 

wiser or plainer in matters of faitii than the holy Spirit ?"■ 

*' *. re not things con.e to a sad pass, tliat to refuse any other terms 
of expession than tUose which the holy Spirit hath given us. and 
whicb are confessed to be the rule or form of sound words, is to 
ex'ose a man to the censure of beinii; unsound in the faith, and un- 
fit foi the (.'hristian cnmmuni(»n ? V/ill nothing do but man's ccrni" 
merit instead of God's text ? or man's consequences and conclu- 
sions in the rooHi of sacred revelation ?"• " All this while, 

(siys he ) the head is set at work, not the heart : and that which 
Christ most insisted upon is least concerned in this sort of faith and 
Christianity, and that is keeping his counnauduienfs ; for it is opin- 
ion^ not obedience, it is notion, not regeneration, which some men 
pursue. This kind of religion leaves (hem as bad as it finds them, 
and worse, for they have sometldng moie to be proud of. Here is 
a creed indeed, but of what i of the contlusions of men. But what 
to do ? to prove that they believe in Christ, who it seems never 
made them. It had been happy for the world il there had been no 
other creeds than what Christ and his apostles gave and left : and 
it is not the least ari^ument against their being needful to Chris- 
tian communion, that Christ and his apostles did not think so, who 
were not wanting to declare the whole counsel of God to the 
Churclu" 

The second great and prominent error was that of mistaking the 
nature of true fait' , or of taking thai for fnith. which was i nt Gos- 
pel f, 'lit h. Herehp laid down wbat he concei ed the Gospel-faith to 
consist of. Hether entered 'ntoa 1 >ngdiscussioninbehal^ Of his ow n 
position; but as this was a regular dissert<ti(»n in a connected chain, 
I cannot ^;ive on;- part of it without anotlier, and to give tlie whole of 
it, would be to take up all the lemaining part of this volume. 

The thini great and prominent error was that of debasing the 
true value of morality, under the pretence of higher things It w as 
the custom, be said, to decry men of moral lii'es. even those who 
feared God and worked rigl'teousness, because they uere not of a 
particular faith. Such men wt t'' considered as mere general be- 
lievers. Their faith was thought not to he properly circumscrib- 
ed but to be too much at larjre. He inveiohed against this custom. 
He ridiculed the notion that a man who repeated his creed bv heart 
•was sure of being within the pale ol salvation, however profane his 



94 MESrOIRS OF THE LIFE. 

life, while anothei* was dimied and esteemed dead, whose life was 
upright, if he liappened not to be so well skilled in what may be 
called the mysteries of the Christian religion. They who main- 
tained this notion denied in fact that morality was a part of Chris- 
tianity, or that virtue had any claim to grace. They mistook one 
of the great ends of Christ's coming, wliich was, as St. Paul to the 
Romans says, to deliver from actual sinnin;^, and to give newness 
of life to the soiiis of m'Mi ; or, as the same apostle to Titus has it, 
to redeem men from all iniquity. 

The fourth great and prominent error was the jjreferrhig hii' 
man authority ahoce reason and truth. But here it is impossible 
to follow him for want of rooai through his voluminous observa- 
tions on this subiect. I shall therefore do little more than ex- 
plain the proposition, which may be worded thus : •• The conclu- 
sions of men from sacred writ, whether in syn)ds or other assem- 
blies, have been throvvn into creeds, and imposed upon men ai? 
bonds of external communion. Now the text, froui whence these 
conclusions were drawn, mast, as having been delivered by inspi- 
ration, be more true than the conclusions themselves. Hence, 
wlierever these conclusions have been set up as dogmas beyond 
the text itself, it will follow, that human authority lias been pre- 
ferred above reason and truth." This part of the essay related 
in a great measure to the power of the clergy, atid the people's re- 
liance upon them for their knowledge of religion and the way of 
life and salvation. Such a state of things he deprecated. He con- 
tended that the keys of heaven were not given to them exclusive- 
ly, that their dogmas or authority should be preferred above rea- 
son and truth. It must be observe<I, however, when he referred 
to the clergy, that he had generallv in his eve those of the Church 
of Rome. He concluded this partof his address by expressin2:a hope, 
that 07ify that which the Scripfiir s themsdves siigi:;esfe.d to every 
one, ini<:;ht be the common crimed of men, and that jiious living might 
become the test of their vahie an moral beings. 

The last great and prominent error was the propagaHon offaitk 
hy force. He began his refutation of t'lds err »r by asserting, tiiat 
cruel laws had been made against men for no other crime than that 
of dissenting from the national worship, and that tliese laws had 
been executed in a most unmerciful manner. Having established 
this proposition, he divided ids subject into two parts, — into Cee- 
sar's authority, and the power of the Church in things wiiich re- 
lated to faith and conscience. This was the division, he said, 
which Christ himself made on the same subject in those memora- 
ble words, " Rentier unto ('fesar i^\\& things which are Cfesar's, 
and to Goil the things which are God's." 

He defined next what were the things which belonged to Csesar. 
These were, to love justice, to do judgment, to relieve the oppres- 
sed, to riiiht the fatherless, and to be a terror to evil-doers, and a 
praise to them who sliould do well. The evil-doers were tliieves, 
adulterers, murderers, and they who violated the laws, which 
were for the preservation of civil society, and not persons of good 
lives, who happened to differ from the creed of the National 
Church. Whenever Ca;sar meddled with what did not belong to 



OF WILLIAM PENir. 9^S 

him, he confounded his own things with the things of God. Thus 
he confounded divine worship with civil obedience, and Churcli 
with State. He erected new measuies, by whicli to try the mem- 
bers of worldly societies, and gave occasion to anotlier power than 
that which was necessary lo the constitution of civil government* 
Such a conduct he maintained, was pernicious. It made property 
floating and uncertain ; for it was then both the cry and the prac- 
tice, " No conformity to the Chuich, no property in the State.'* 
It made a man owe more to Church than to State ; for the anchor, 
by w hich he rode, was not his ahedience to laws relatin;: to the 
preservation of civil society, but conformity to the doctrines of the 
Church, it weakened Ca?sar*s «)wn state. Ji^«ttrst*-it irritated so 
many of his subjects against him. It w-Ks contrary to the univer- 
sal goodness of God, whom C?esar tvrfght to imitate, and who was 
found to dispense his sun, light, aj^, and showers to all. It barred 
up heaven against all further illuihination ; for, let God send what 
light he pleased, Cfcsar's people could not receive it without Cfe- 
sar's license. It tended to stifie and punish sincerity. It led di- 
rectly to Atheism, because it extinguished the sense of conscience 
for worldly ends. Of such a conduct he observed further, that the 
very conformity, to which it tried to enforce men, did not make 
them better livers, nor was this c(»nfo! niity necessary to salvation. 
Add to which, that such a conduct had never yet obtained its own 
end. 

He then proceeded to the things which belonged to God. He 
defined what a New Testament or .Scripture-Church was. It was, 
as far as it might be called visible, a society of people professing 
and practising according to the doctrine and example of Chi ist 
and his apostles, and not according to Ihe Scribes and Phar- 
isees, who taught for doctrine the traditions of men. It consisted, 
in fact, of persons who were meek in ht-art, lowly in spirit, chaste 
in life, virtuous in all conversation, lonu suffering and patient, and 
not only forgiving but loving their very enemies. With respect 
to the power of such a Church, he observed tliat it was not world- 
ly. Christ would not allow fire to be called down from heaven, 
but rebuked those who desired it, for their revengeful spirit. He 
allowed the tares to grow up with the wheat. He said there were 
not many masters (in his Church), hut one. He gave his Church 
power to bind and to loose, but not to bind wit'' fetters. He or- 
dered every offender belonging to it to be treated as a Heathen, 
but said nothing ot'fnes., whii^s, stocks, and imprisonment. The 
apostles maintained the same doctrine. No man was t() judge the 
servant of another. To his own lord he was to stand or to fall. I'he 
flock of God was to be fed, but not hif constraint. ^^ here the 
Spirit of the Lord was, there was liberty ; but ivhere chains^pillo- 
ries, and gaols were., there could be none- Men were to avoid 
foolish questions and genealogies, and contentions and strivings 
about the law. An Heretic after the first and second admonition 
was to be rejected, that is, not banif^hed from his native land, but 
denied communion with the Pock. By Heretic the apostle meant 
a self-condemned person, that is, " one who was subverted, and 
had sinned, and who tras condemned fbv or in) himself. ^^ But 



^' MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Dissenters were not of this latter cast. They were not sp^f- 
condemned- 'I'hej were not conscious to themselves of reiigious 
errors. 

The remaining part of this atldress consisted of observations on 
tlie caust's ofreliijious persecution. The first of these lie appre- 
hended to be a want oftrne religion ; that is. the authors and pro- 
moters of such persecution luid little or no religion at heait 

The second was a tnisappuhension of tlie word relisjion. The 

third was the gross hut general mistake, ujider which the peoj)!e 
laboured ccnceming the nature of 'he chureti and kingdom of 

Christ. The fourth lay in tliis.tiiat men made too manu fhinns 

nfi'Psmry to be believed fi» salva'ion and communion. Upon tins he 
observe*], that persecution begun with crt-ed-mnking — ^— The fifth 
was visible in the prejudice 0^ education, and in that bias which 
tradition gave to those ivho had never made their ri'li^ion the n ii- 

gion of their judgment. A sixth spranir fVim self-1 )ve, and the 

impatie ice of men umler contradiction. '"lie last was. that ho- 
ly living had then become no test among m"U, except against the 
liver: that is, be who could persuade bis conscience to comply 
with the times, if he were ever so vicious, wis" protected, it not 
J) refer red ; whWe a man of wisdom or sobriety of life, if a Dis- 
senter, ivas branded as a finatic, and a factious and disloyal 
pel S"n. 

After this we find him a writer upon a smaller scale. He com- 
posed a preface to the works of Samu -I Fisher then printing in fo- 
lio. Samuel Fisher had been originull y a clergyman oft'^e Church 
of England. He itecamp afterwards a Baptist preacher. Joining 
at length in society witli the Quakers, he was apprehended with 
others of the same profession on the old score of reli-iinn, and died 
a prisoner on that account in 1665. His object therefore in this 
preface was to bear his testim )nv concerning the author, who had 
thus suffered martyrdom in brbalf of what he believed to be the 
Truth. 

At this time the ferment in the nation relative to the Popish 
plot continued as violent as I'ver. Men's minds, whether Catho- 
lics or Protestants was still unduly heated. In this situation of 
tilings, it happened that writs were iss'ed for summoning a new 
Parliament. This circumstance, whicli afforded an opportunity 
to parties to try their strength, involved the nation in new anxie- 
ty, and added to the beat ahead v described. William Penntliere- 
fo; e had no sooner finislied t'le above mentioned preface, than he 
felt himsel!' called upon to bi'come a writer again. Thi» result of 
his new labour was a small pamoh'et. which he called '' England's 
great Interest in the ('h(»ice of a New Parliament, dedicated t<) all 
her Freeholders and Electors." 

He proposed in this pamphlet, first, to pursue the discovery and 
punishment of the Popish plot: to remo- e and to bring to justice 
those evil counsellors and corrupt and nrbltr - ^y ministers of st at e^ 
who bad heen so industrious in ndr'><im2! the FC nsc to ivrong meaf- 
ures, and in alienating bis affections from his oeople ; to detect and 
punish the pen«i iners of the forn.er "^arliainent. s» ch a breach of 
trust on their part6cjn^ treason against the fundamental Cunstitw 



-OF WILLIAM PENNi 9? 

fion of the Governmmt ; to secure to the nation the execution of 
its ancient laws bj others, among which should be one iti favour 
offrcqiie^nt l^arUnm.ents^ this being the only true chpck upon arbi" 
trary rnlnistcrs, and therefore a measure which they always feared, 
hated, and opposed; anJ to secure the people from popery and 
slavery, and to ease all Protestant Disseiit»^is. He was of opin- 
ion tliat the King ought to be eased of his burthensoine debts, in 
case these terms were co nplied with. He explain-d, secondly, to 
the electors the mcanin;; of the words in the writs t!ien issued. 
He laid before them their great funilamental rights and privileges, 
and then gave tliem his advice as to whom they ought both to 
choose and to reject. He would have no reputed pensioners, no 
officers at court, wliose emplovment was at will or pleasure, no in- 
diiient, or ambitious, or prodigal, or voluptuous persons elected. 
He would have the old members returned only according to their 
former upright way of votinu. Sincere Protestants he recommend- 
ed as essential'y necessary, and he hoped they would fix their choice 
upon men of large and liberal principles, and such as would not 
roh their other Protestant brethren because they happened to dif- 
fer from them in the doctrinal parts of the Christian religion. 

Soon after the publicntionof this work the elections began : and 
here it will be pro)>er to observe, tliat the Quakers from particular 
scruples do not interfere in matters of this sort either as eagerij 
or as frequently as otiier people. Some of them indeed do not 
even use their elective franchise at all. William Penn partook in 
some degree ot the same scruples, and perhaps would have been 
satisfied witli writing tlie pamphlet just mentioned, had there not 
been one man in the kingdom about whom iie could not be indif* 
ferent at this crisis. This was the great Algernon Sidney. He 
had been acquainted with tids distinguished person for some time, 
and had loved his character. Indeed in this very year he had act- 
ed in a case between him and Osgood, Mead, and Roberts. But 
now that the elections were begun, he could not control the wish 
he had to do him service in a department where he believed his 
free spirit and noble talents would be attended with good to his 
country. Accordingly he went to Guildford, where Colonel Sid- 
ney was then a candidate against Dalmahoy, who was one of the 
Court party. He procured him there several votes among those 
of his own religious profession. He accompanied him also to the 
hustings, where he interested himself with otliers. While in the 
act of encouraging these he was stopped by the Recorder, who, in 
order to make him odious, branded him publicly with the name of 
Jesuit. The latter, finding this attempt ineffectual, would have 
tendered him oaths, but that it \yas shown that it was then illegal 
so to do. Disappointed therefore in all his expectations, the Re- 
corder had no resource left him but that of force, and using this 
he actually turned him out of court. 

Though Colonel Sidney had a majority of voices, Oalmahovwas 
returned. The plea was, that the C(donel was not a freeman of 
Guildford The election being over, William Penn returned to 
Worminghurst. Ruminatin2:, in his way hom«>j on all the base 



98 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

transactions which had taken place both before and at the meeting 
now mentioned, which it is foreign to my purpose to detail, he was 
of opinion that Colonel Sidney should petition against the return, 
and therefore the next day wrote him the following letter : 

" DEAR FRIEND, 

" I hope you got a!! well home, as I by God's goodness have 
done. I reflected, upon the way, of things past at Guiidfoid, and 
that which occurs to nie as reasonable is this, that so soon as the 
articles or exceptions are digested, show tlieni to >5erjeant Mav- 
nard, and get his opinion of the matter. .Sir Francis \V innington 
and Wallope have been use<l on these occasions. Thou must have 
counsel before the Committee ; and to advise first upon the rea- 
son of an address or petition with them, in my opinion, is not im- 
prudent, but very fitting. If they say that (the conjuncture con- 
sidered, thy qualifications and alliance, and his ungratefulness to 
the House) they believe all may amount to an unfiiir election, then 
I offer to wait presently upon tlie Duke of Buckingham. Karl of 
Shaftshury, Lord I''ssex, Lo?-d Halifax, TiOrd HoUis, Lord Gray, 
and others, to use their utmost inierest in reversing this business. 
This m^y be done in five flavs. and I was not willing to stay till I 
come, which will be wit' the first. Remember the non-residents 
on their side, as Legii; and others. 1 left order with all our inter- 
est to bestir tiiemselves, and uatch, and transmit an acount to 
thee daily. I bless God, I found all well at home. I hope the 
disappointment so strange (a hundred and forty poll-men as we. 
thought last night considered) does not move thee. Thou, as thy 
friends, had a conscientious record for Ev^lavd ; and to be put 
aside hij such base icai/s is reaily a suffering for rii^hteousn^^ss. 
Thou hast embarked thysplf with fhfin that seek, and iive, and 
choose the best things ; and number is- not wi'ight with thee. I hope 
it is retrievable, for to me it looks not a fair and clear election. 
Forget not tliat soldiers were made free three weeks ago in pros- 
pect of the choice, (and bv the way they went, as we may guess, 
for Dalmahoy's sake.) an«l thyself so often put by, a thing not re- 
fused to one of thv condition. Of tlie Lower House the Lord 
Cavendish, and especially Lord Russel. Sir Jo. Coventry, Powell, 
Saychevrill. Williams, Lee, Clergis, Boskowen, Titus, men, some 
able, some hot (ardent) and fit to be nearly engaged in the know- 
ledjre of these tilings. 'Tis late, I am weary, and hope to see thee 
quickly. Farewell. 

« Thy faithful Friend, 

" William Penn." 
Tlie Parliament had not been seated long after the election, be- 
fore it was again dissolved. This, as it gave anotlier opportunity 
to Algernon Sidnev, so it brought fresh anxiety to William Penn 
on his account. fJe was grieved to think that such a man in such 
times should be excluded from the councils of his country. He 
therefore proposed to him to try Bramber, which was in his own 
county, and interested himself in paving the way for him to that 
borough. The following is one of the letters which he wrote him 
on this subject. 



or WILLIAM PENN. 99 

•' DEAR FRIEND, 

" I am now at ."^ir John Fagg's, where I and myrelations dined, 
I have pressed the point ^ ith what diligence and force 1 could 5 
and to say true, Sir John Fagg has been a most zealous, and he be- 
lieves a successful friend to thee. But. upon a serious consideta- 
tion of the matter, it is agreed that thou comest down with all 
speed, but that thou tnkest Hall-Land in thy way, and bringest 
Sir John Pelhani with thee, which he ouj;ht less to scruple, be- 
cause his having no interest can he no objection to his appearing 
with tliee ; the commonest civility that can be is all desired. The 
borough has kindled at thy name, and takes it well If Sir 
John Temple may be credited, he assures me it is very likely. He 
is at work daily. An(»ther. one Parsons, treats to-day, but for 
thee as well as himself, and mostly makes his men for thee, and 
perhaps will he persuaded, if you two carry it not, to bequeath his 
interest to thee, ;ind then Captain Goreing is thy colleague ; and 
this I wisli. both to make the thing easier and to prevent oftence. 
Sir John Pi-lham sent me word, he heard that thy brother Henry 
Sidney would be proposed to that borough, or already was, and till 
he was sure of t'le cotitrary, it would not be decent for him to ap- 
pear. Of that thou canst best inform him. That day you come- 
to Bramber Sir John Fagg will meet you both ; and that night you 
may lie at Wiston. and then, when thou plcascst, with us at Worm- 
inghurst. Sir John Temple has that opinion of thy good reasons 
to persuade, as well as quality to influence the electors, that, with 
what is and will be done, the business will prosper ; which, with 
my true good wishes that it may be so, is all at present from thy 
true Fi'iend, 

" William Penn. 
" Sir John Fagg salutes thee." 

It may be proper just to observe, that Algernon Sidney was not 
cliosen at this time, Sir Jolm Pelham having previously made all 
the interest that was necessarv for his (Algernon's) brother Hen- 
ry, who followed a dift'erent line of politics, and who was after- 
Avards Earl of Romney. 

The elections having taken place, and the Parliament having at 
length been returned, William Penn published a book, which head- 
dressed to it under the title of*' One Project for the Good of England : 
that is. Our civil Union is our civil Safety." In this book he laid it 
down, that civil interest, usinji; the word interest in a good sense, was 
the foundation and end of Civil Government: and then proceeded to 
show, that the preservation of that civil interest entire was also 
the preservation of Civil Government, insomuch that where the 
former was not preserved entire, tlie latter must needs decline. 
He maintained next, that ail English Protestants, whethei Con- 
formists or Non-conformists, agreed in this, that they owed alle- 
giance and subjection to the Civil Government of England alone; 
whereas the Catholics, owning anotlier temporal power as superi- 
or to the Government they properly belonged to, made themselves 
the subjects, not of the Government under which they were born. 



lOOf MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

but of the Government of the Pope. Hence, whatever restrictions 
the existing Parliament might think it right to put upon the latter, 
it was its duty to maintain the civil interest entire, as it related to 
Churchmen and Dissenters ; for, it l^eing to the advantage ot both 
th.it the Pope should have no dominion in England, the Church- 
Protestant could not injure the Dissenting Protestant without 
weakening and destroying his own civil interest. Having dis- 
coursed largely upon this principle, he proposed as his one 
project, a certain public Declaration or Test, by which all Prot- 
estant Dissenters might be enabled to show tliat they were not 
Catholics. This Declaration, which he drew up himself, de- 
nied the Pope's right to depose any Sovereign, or absolve the sub- 
jects of such Sovereign from their allegiance. It denied him to 
be Christ's Vicar. It denied a purgatory after death, transuhstan- 
tiation in the Lord's supper, and the lawfulness and efficacy of 
prayers to saints and images. The Declaration was to be made in 
all the towns and parishes on a certain day. Asli- Wednesday 
tvas mentioned as not an improper day, because it was on that 
day that the Pope cursed all Protestants. Kvery abuse of this 
Declaration was to he punished. In stating this his project, how- 
ever. I may observe, that he never spoke of the Catholics so as to 
call in question their religious righ*s. H s only object was to 
show that. Churchmen and Protestant Dissenters h;iving the same 
civil interest in the Government of England, the one ought not to 
oppress the otlier. and particularly for shades of diftisrenee a& to-' 
Hieir religious faith, 



OF WILLIAM FENN^ kQl 



CHAPTER XVI. 



jj. 1680 — eontiwips his management of West J\'*eiv Jersey — writes 
a preface to an anonymous publication — also to the works of J. 
I'ennington — petitions Charles the Second for letters patent for 
a cn'tain tract of 'and in Jiincrica in lieu of the debt due by the 
Government to his father — his motives for soliciting the same. 

William Penn, who in the last year had but little to do for 
JBilljnge with regard to West New Jersey, w.s called upon in the 
present to make considerable exertions in his favour. A duty of 
ten per cent, had been laid by the Government of New York, and 
renewed in the year 1669, on ail imports and exports at Hoarkill, 
now Lewis Town, at the mouth of t'le Delaware Bay. This duty 
had been exacted of all persons who had arrived and taken up their 
lands in West New Jersey, to their great grieva^ ce ; and as these 
had now greatly increased, it had bee »me considerable in its a- 
mount. The settlers therefore complaining: to the trustees of Bil- 
lynge, William Penn felt himself called upon t(» take a part on the 
occasion. >e was aware that, if he succeeded in getting rid of 
this tax. it would be to the detriment of his friend the Duke of 
York, and that he might even oft'end him on this account; but when 
he considered that his trusteeship involved in it a serious duty, and 
that t! e demands in question were unjust, be had no hesitation in 
pu: suing the right path. Accordingly in conjunction with the oth- 
er trustees he made a formal application to the Duke on the sub- 
ject. 'I'he Duke referred the matter to the Council. There it lay 
for some time. The Council at length reported in favour of Bil- 
lyno^e; for William Penn had made it appear that Billyiige had 
purchased the ^overnynent of the country with the soil ; that the 
country therefore ought not to be subject to any imposition of du- 
ties bv the Government ol New York ; that the Duke of York hav- 
ing granted all his right to the said country to the assigns of Lord 
B'-rkeley, and the latter to Billynge, in as ample a manner as it 
had been granted to tl e Duke by tlie King, which was expressly 
" to make, ordain, and establish all manner of orders, laws, direc- 
tions, nsMumenty and forms ol goreriinient, and magistrates fit 
and necessary for the territory aforesaid,*' with this limitation, "so 
al'/avsas t!\e same he not contrary to the laws and statutes of this 
our realm of England, hut as near as may he agreeable thereto," 
it v\as plain tliat the colony could not he of right subject to any 
laws or impositions but tlmse made by itself or by Great Britain. 
The report !>aving been thus made in favour of Billvnge, Sir John 
"VN erden communicated it by the Duke's order to the Government 
of New York, after which the duty was disrontinued. Having set- 
tled this matter he returned to Worminghurst, where he spent the 
greiitest part of the present vear. 

The persecution of the Quakers still going on. on account of their 
religion, during which some were whipped, ot'iers put in the storks, 
"nd others banished ; three books were published by an anonymous 



102 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

person, arldressed to the King, Lords, and Commons, in their fa- 
vour. Tbe first of these was called '• The Case of the people cal- 
led Quakers stated in relation to tlieir late and present Sufferings, 
especially upon old Statutes made against Popish Recusatits." 
The second, " A particular Account of the late and present great 
Sufferings of the same uj)on Prosecutions against them in the Bish- 
ops' Court." The tliird, " A brief Account of some of the late and 
present Sufferings of tlie same, for meeting together to worsiiip 
God in Spirit and in Truth, upon the Conventicle-Act : with an 
Account of such as died Prisoners from the Year 1660 lor several 
Causes." To each of these William Penn wrote an appropriate 
preface, which he signed, in conjunction with others, in behalf of 
his own religious Society. 

He wrote also a Preface to the Works of Isaac Pennington, an 
eminent minister among the Quakers, which were printed in 
folio, and who died in this same year. Isaac Pennington, by 
marrying the widow of Sir William Springett, had become the fa- 
ther-in-law of William Penn. Rnowing as tlie latter d:d the many 
virtues of the deceased, he took the opportunity of this publication 
to bear his testimony concerning them to the world. 

In this vear died his amiable friend Elizabeth, Princess Palatine 
of the Rhine, who had received him so kindly when in Germanv, 
and with whom he had kept up a correspondence till her death. 
This event is said to have affected him. He had indeed a true re- 
gard for her ; and two v<^ars after tliis, when he published his sec- 
ond edition, of " No Cross, no Crown," he endeavoured to perpet- 
uate her memory, by inserting her name there, among those, both 
of ancients and moderns, who by their serious living and dying had 
become the benefactois of mankind. He closed his eulogy con- 
cerning her in the following manner: '• She lived her single life 
till about sixty years of age, and then departed at her own house 
at Herwerden, as much lamented as she bad lived beloved of her 
people: to whose real wo'th I do, wit!) a religious gratitude for 
ner kind reception, dedicate this memorial." 

After this he was occupied in winding up the aflfairs of his father 
■with the Government. His father had advanced large sums of 
money from time to time for the good of the naval service, and his 
pay had been also in arrears. For these two clsiras, including the 
interest upon the money due, Government were in debt to him no 
less a sum than sixteen thousand pounds. V/iliiam Penn was de- 
sirous therefore of closing the account. He was however not anx- 
ious for the money. He wisbed, on the other hand, to take land 
in America in lieu of it, and therefore petitioned Charles the Sec- 
ond that letters patent might be granted him for the same. The 
tract he solicited wa« to lie North of Maryland. It was to be 
bounded on the Kast hv the Delaware River. It was to be limited 
on the West as Maryland was. and it was to extend Northward 
as far as it was plantable. It has been sai(' that he was led to tliis 
step by his father, who before bis death had received a good report 
•f this tract from a relation, and who had received the promise of 
a grant of it by wa}"^ of reimbursement from the Crown. But this 
is the assertion merely of a solitary writer, and is in other respects 



OF WILLIAM PENX. 103 

improbable ; for William Penn came to a knowledge of it far more 
accurate than any whicli couUl have been furnished him by bis fa- 
ther, in consequence of dmstant communications concerning it 
from those settlers whom he himself had sent to West New Jer- 
sey, directly opposite to which it lay. Nor had he any d.esire to 
possess it Iron) any views of worldly interest, such as his father 
mi}i;ht have entertai.'ied, but chieily tVon) tlie noble motive of doing 
good. Having acted as a trustee of Billyn^e or four years, he had 
seen what a valuable colony might be planted by a selection of re* 
ligious families, who should emigrate and dwell together, and who 
sbould leave behind them the vicious customs and rotten parts 
both of the political and religious constitutiun of the Old World. 
In this point of view any payment of the debt in money would, 
as I have said before, have been nothing to him compared with the 
payment of it in American land : and that something like this wass 
his motive for soliciting the grarit i-n question may be abundantly 
shown. Oldmixon.who was his contemporary, states, that "fmdinjr 
his friends, the Quakers were harassed over England hy Spiritual 
Courts, he resolved to put himself at the head of as many as would 
go with him, and thus conduct tliem to a place where they would be 
no longer subjected to suffering on account of their religifm." An- 
derson, who succeeded Oldmixon, speaks the same ianguajre. In 
his Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Com- 
merce he uses the following words : " 'I'he same yerr gave rise to 
the noble ERglish colony of Pennsylvania in North America.—— 
Mr. William Penn. an eminent Quaker, and a gentleman of great 
knowb dge and true phiUssophy, had it granted to him at this time. 

He designed it for a retreat or asylum for the people of his 

own religious persuasion, then made uneasy at himie through the 
bigotry of Spiritual Courts." Such is the statement of these writ- 
ers. The truth however is, that he had three distinct objects in 
view when he petitioned for this grant. In a letter to a friend on 
this subject he says, '• that he so desires to obtain and to keep the 
New Land as that he may not be unworthy of God's love, hut do 
that which may answer his kind providence, and serve his Truth 
and peopl'' ; that an ejcample ma 1/ he set up to the }iat ions ; that there 
icas mom there {\n Amenca.) though not here (in England) for 

such an holy experiment.'''' Here then are two of these ohjects : 

for to serve GoiVs Truth and people meant with him the san'e thing as 
to afford the Quakers the retreat from persecution mentioned : and 
by the words which followed these, it is clear he had a notion, that 
by transportina: the latter he might be enabled to raise a virtuous 
empire in tlie New Land, which should diffuse its example far and 
wide, and to the remotest a';;es : an idea wo'thy of a gve. t mind, 
and such only as a mind undaunted by difficulties could have hoped 
to reali'/.e. The third object may he seen in his petition for this 
grant : for in this he stated that he had in view the glory of God by 
the civilization of the poor Indians, and the conversion of the Gen- 
tiles by just and levienf measuresto Christ's kingdom. In short, his 
motive« may he summed up in the general description of them giv- 
en by Robert Proud, one of his more modern historians, and who 
had access to hundreds of his letterSj and who spared no pains to 



1§4 TtfEMOIRS OF TffE LIFE 

develop his mind in the most material transactions of his life, 
" The views of William Penn." says he, " in th.' colonization of 
Pennsylvania vveie most manifestly the best and most exalted that 
cmld occupy the human mind ; namely, to render men as free and 
happy as tlie nature of tlieir existence could possibly bear in their 
civil capacity, and, in t!ieir relijous state, to restore them to those 
lost rights and privilt*g;es with which God and nature had ori«2;inal- 
ly blessed the human race. Tiiis in nart he eftected, and by those 
m^ans which Providence in the following manner put into his 
hands, he so far brou'j;ht to pass as to excite the admiration of 
strangers, and to fix in posterity that love and honour for liis m ni- 
orv. which the length of future time will scarcely ever be able to 
efface." 



CHAPTER XVir. 

*3. 1681 — h'>comfS a proprietor of Ertsf .^e.'r Jpr^py — puhJishP9"A 
brief Ev'vninn^iim and Stnfe of lAhi'rfi/ spiritual'''* — •wriipa*^ Jl 
Le.tfpr tit the Friervls of Gni in the City of BristoP'' — ohtaina a 
grant of the tract solicited — substance of the charter for the 
same — nanifd Pennsylvania hy thf King — his modesf feelings at 
th'S nam"— publishes an account of Pennsylvania and the terms 
of S'lle — draws up conditions—'his great care of the iirttivs there* 
in — draws up a frame of government — his great care of liberty 
of conscience therein — extract of his letter to R Turner — se'ads 
off three, vessels with passengers— -and ^vith commissioners'—' 
writes to the Indians by the latter— is elected a Fellow of the 
Royal Society — letter to R. Vickris. 

William Penn was still indefatigable in promoting the interests 
of Billynge. By the influence he had in Ireland he stmt off" this 
year two vessels from that quarter freighted with settlers, most of 
whom were Quakers. A great part of these went from Dublin, 
and the rest from other parts of the country where he had been 
best know^n. As to Billynge himself, he prevailed upon the pro- 
prietors to make 'um Governor. and Samuel Jenings. a Quaker and 
an able minister of the Gospel, Deputy Governor of the colony. 
The latter went out also in the present year, and ruled it with so 
much virtue as to infuse strenijth into its infant sinews, to the 
great advancement of its civil and moral growth. 

While he was thus attentive totlie welfare of West Ni'W Tevsey, 
he became unexpectedlv concerned for another colony. East New 
Jersey, of which Elizaheth Town was the capital, was sold this 
year according to the will of Sir George Carteret. T' is province 
was in good order, populous and Hourishin;^. He became the 
purchaser o^ it, hut took in as partners R. West. T. Rudvaid. S. 
Groo-ne. T. Hart. R. Mew. T. Wilcox, \. Ri r. .1. Haywood. H. 
Hartshorne, C. Plumsted, and T. Cooper. These soon afterwards 



OF WILLIAM PENN. H>d 

ttlmitted twelve others into the concern, James Farl of Perth, J. 
l;iuinmond, R Bniclay tlie apoloj^ist, R. Godoii, A. ^onmaus.Or. 
Lawrie, K. Billynge, J. Biame, v- . Gilison,T. Barker, R. iuriier, 
and T. Warne. Of the tweutv-four now mentioned all except 
two or thiep were Quakers. The pirtiiership liaving, bt'eii cum- 
pleied, William Feiiii published ,n account ot the country, a fresh 
proj. ct for a town (Perth \mbos), and a method of disposing of 
such lands as remained unttccupied. His phiii hecame popular, 
and many, but particularly the Scotch, accepted the term?, wliicli 
accompanied it. 

At this time the difference of opinion, which has been before 
stated to have arisen aniong the Quakers lelative to the estab'ish- 
ino'it of a church^discipline amonu them, continued, and much to 
t'le interruption of the peace of tlie Society. They who were 
auainst the introduction of such a discipline contended that, t' e 
mind of man being acted upon and iniluenced by impressions from 
the holy Spirit, he had a sufficient guide in the-e. ar.d that he ought 
therefore to he left to himself: hut this tliscipline ,did not 
leave him to himself; it did not leave him free to conform 
himself to such impressions, but unduly biassed him, and 
subjected him to ecclesiastical authority. They who took 
the opposite side of the question contended, thit an unlimit- 
ed liberty to man to fo'low all internal sugji^estions would lend 'vtn 
to anarchy and confusion, and would most assuredly be productive 
ofpvd. Among tl^ese discordant opinions William Penn publish- 
ed his own on this subject in a little tract called " A brief Ex- 
amination and State of Libertv spiritual, both with respect to Per- 
sons in their private Capacity and in their Church-Society and 
Communion." In tliis he defined, first, what liberty spiritual was. 
He then stated in substance, that tlieie were thinus ordinary a'ld 
indifTerent, and that men were not to wait for spiritual mo- 
tions and notices for these, or expect such motions and notices in 
every trivial concern and affair of life ; tliat there were, on the 
other hand, things positively enjoined them by God. which they 
■were bound to perform ; tliat, as far as the latter were concerned, 
they had no liberty or choice, but must be put under restraint : in 
fact, that there was a discipline for Christians : foi- there was no 
true libertv to these hut by obedience to the law of Christ, norany 
free man, but such as bore the joke of Christ, and conformed him- 
self to his will. 

At this time a most severe persecution of the Quakers took place 
in Bristol, at the instiiiation of Sir J. Knight, sheriff, Ralph Oliffe, 
alderman, and John Hellier, attorney at law. These, accotnpani- 
ed by several others, went to their me-^ti^g-house at t'e Friars, 
and under a pretence of a fine of five poun 's 'm' osed upon it for 
not sending out a man in arms to the trained hands, though it had 
never been imposed before, entered it. and broke the forms, win- 
dows, benches, anti galleries". They then seized the house for the 
King. Having done this they deportee!, and made similar havoc 
in their meeting-house in Tcrarle-stree*, even thougli no fine was 
pretended there. Not satisfi'-d wit!» what they had done, they 
watched their opportunities for forther mischief. Thcv followetl 



t09 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

the Qualters to other places where tliey met for religious worship, 
made conventicles of all tli.se, and fined tliem accordingly. Fhe 
fines levied upon T. Goldney, T. Jordan. 'I'-Callowhill, R. Marsh, 
B. 8nead, J. Lo\e, C. Ilarftird, C. Jones, R. Vickiis, and otieis 
amounted, being all doubh d, to several hundred pounds. At otii- 
er times they sent them to prison for pretended breaches of the 
pea.e. driviii. thenj tliere like cattle, the men to Newgate, and 
the vvouien to i^ridevvell. To the latter no less than eighteen wo- 
men weie sent at one time, namely, Catherine hvans, Joan Haly, 
Elizabeth Harford, Margaret Thouias. and others. There were 
also at times not less than one hundred in the latter, so t!at ("or 
vant of room some were ob iged to lie on the floor on whatever 
mats and beds thev could i;et, and others in hammocks over them. 
In the verv street^ too tl^ey pursued them with the same bitter spi- 
rit, pulling oft" and throwirig away the hats of the n>en in derisi -n, 
and tearing t .e women's hoods and scarfs. Thev prosecuted also 
this year no less than fifty Quakers in this one city on the statute 
made against ! opish Recusants for twenty pounds a montli for ab- 
sence from the national worship. These transactions, when tliey 
came to the knowledge of William Penn. overu'elmed him with 
grief. He knew not what to do. He had already promulgated 
the grievances of those thus persecuted, and t! is over ami over 
again, by means of repeated publications. He bad made t'-em 
known to the Kiig by letter. He had laid them also personally 
before the Legislature, and yet no legal ri'dress had followed. He 
had theref(u-e only the expedient left liim, of which he availedhim- 
self, of addressing the unhappy suffereis in one cinnmon letter, 
■which he called '■ A letter to the Friends of God in the City of 
Bristtd." This, be informed them, be wrote for their Christian 
consolation and encouragement. He advised them, as the cruel 
laws of their counti-v still existed, to submit to them with patience 
and resignation. He exhorted them not tobe cast down, for t!'ere 
■was food and nourishuient in affliction ; to reme'nber the suffer- 
ings of the first (Christians ; their scdurginiis, mockin^s. and im- 
prisonments ; to endeavour b' the assistance of God's holv .Spirit 
to raise themselves above the fear or trouble of earthlv things, and 
to look stedfastly to an inheritance incorruptible, which no human 
power could take awav. 

But to return to the Petition. It was presented, as I have be- 
fore stated, to t'ie Kin-;-. I have now to oJiserve. tliat the King; 
bavin ' read it, sent it to the Privv Council : and that t' e Privy 
Council, havinir c msidcved its contents, sent it hi the Lords' Com- 
mittee of Trade and Plintations. Great ooposition was made to it 
in bot]i places, and f(»r no otl'er reaso?i than because William Penn 
"Was a Quaker. Several meetino;s took place, in v\ hicb the objec- 
tions of the ?>uke of York (hv his a':'ent Sir John W^erden) as pro- 
prietor of a laru:e t act of land in the neitThbourhood of tha*" which 
■was the object o^the Petitiim. and those of Lord Baltimore as pro- 
prietor of Maryland, were M\y beard and debated. The ativice 
too of the Chief Justice North and the Nttomev-Gencal Sir Wil- 
liam Jones was taken on the subioct of the grant. The matter at 
length ended in favour of William Penn j and he was by Charter^ 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 16? 

dated at Westminster tlie loiirth of March 1681, and signed by 
writ of i^rivv Seui, ma<!e and constituted lull and absolute propri- 
etor of all thiit tract of land which lie had solicited and marked 
0Ut, and invested with the power of ruling and governing the shme. 
This Charter c .nsisted of twenty -three sections In tliese t e 
extent i!!id houiulaiiess ol the new province were specified, and the 
free use ofall ports, hays, rivers, and waters there, and of their 
produce, and ofall islands, mountains, soils, and mines thi're, and 
oft: eir j)roiluce, ueie wholly ;^ranted and given up to him. He 
was ma(K' a!)S(»lLite proffrietary of the said tt'rritory, which was to 
be held in i'vev and common soccage by fealty only, paving two 
beaver sk:ns annually and one fifth of all the gold and silver dis^ 
covered to the King, and the said territory was to be called Penn- 
sylvania after his own name, ile had the power of making laws 
with the ad\ice, asse-it and approbation of the free men of t!ie ter- 
ritory assembled f<jr the raising of money for public uses ; of ap- 
poiiiting Ju iges and other officers ; and of pardoning and repriev- 
ing, except in the cases of vvil'id murder and high treason. In 
these cases reprieve was to be granted only till the pleasure of the 
King was known, vvlio also le-erved to himself the right of liear- 
ing appeals. He had the power also in new and sudden circum- 
stances, w I'.ere the fi ee men could not be suddenly and conveni- 
ently assembled, of makina ordinances, which, however, were to 
be aireeahle to reas))n and not repu.nant to the laws of England, 
or to be extended in anv sort to lind, cl ange, or take away the 
ri^iht or inteiest r)f persons for. or in, tbeii lives, members, free- 
holds, (roods and chattels : ami all property as well as felonies were 
to be regulated bv the laws of Kngland. until the said laws should 
be altered by himself, or assigns, and the free men of the said 
province. Duplicates ofall laws made there were to be transmit- 
ted to the Privy Council w itbin five years after they were passed; 
and if witliin six raontlis after having been so transmitted such 
laws were not pronounced void by tlie said Council, they were to 
be consideied as having been approved of and to be valid. Per- 
mission was given to English subjects to transport th.emselves to, 
and to settle in, Pennsylvania: to load and freight in English 
po'ts and transport all mercbamlize from tlience to the said prov- 
ince, anil t'> transj)()rt the fruits and produce of the said province to 
Enirland on pavingtbearcustomarv duties Hehadthe powerofdi- 
vidingtheprovince into towns, bundret's, and c<mnties; of erecting 
and incorporatinu; to \ ns into boroughs, and borouiihs into cities ; of 
erecting manors, holdinsi: courts baron, and of having and holding 
viewof frankple<lge : of sellinc; oralienating .«ny part or parts of the 
said province. in whidi case the purchasers were to hold by bis grant ; 
foconstituling fairs and market'! : and ofmakingrorts^, harbours, and 
quavs,at which ports, harbours, and qua vs, and at which only, ves- 
sels were to be laden and unlat'.en. All officers, however, appoint- 
ed by the Farmers or Commissioners of the King's Customs were 
to have free admission thereto. He had the power of assessing, 
reasonably, and w itb the advice of the i'rec men assembled, custom 
on goods to be laden and iirdaden, and of enjoying the same, sav- 
ing however to the King such impositions as were and should be 



^ 



108 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

appointed by Act of Parliament. He was to appoint from time to 
time at) Agent to reside in or near London, to answer for an v mis- 
demean )ur on his put, against the laws of trade and navigation ; 
and, in case of such misdemeaODur, he was to make good tlie dam- 
a;:e occasioned thereby within one year ; in failiue of which, the 
Ring was to seize the government of the said province, and to re- 
tain it till the said damage was m .ilegxtd. He was not to main- 
tain correspondence with any Kin'r or Power at war with hiigland, 
nor to make war asjainst anv King or Power in amity with the 
same. In case of incursion by neiglibonring barbarous nations, or 
bv pirates or robbers, he had power to levy, muster and train to 
arrns all men in the said pr(»\ince. and toact as t'ieir ( aptam-Cien- 
eral. and to mak* war upon and pursue t!ie same. I'l.e King was 
never tu impose any tax or custom upon tlie inhabitants of it, ei- 
tlier upon their lands, t-.^nemtnts. go(»ds or cha'tels. or upon any 
merchiuidize to be laden or unladen within it, unless by the con- 
sent of himself, or the chief Governor appointed by him. or by the 
Assembly, or by Act of Parliament in England. Tliis Declaration 
%vas to be deemed by all the Judges in all the courts of law to be a 
lawful discharge, pavment, and acrpiittance ; ant! no officer was to 
attempt anv thing contr.iiy to the premises, hut to aid him, his 
heirs, servants, agents, and others in thefull use and enjoyment of 
the Charter If anv o( the iidiahitants to the number of twenty 
should sijinifv their desiretothe Bishop of London to haveapieach- 
er sent to them, such ])reacher should be allowed toieside and per- 
form his functions without any denial or molestation whatever. If 
any douht should arise concerning the meaning of any expression 
in the Tharter. the intrrp'-etation of it was to be construed in a 
manner the most favourable to him and his heirs 

It may be proper to give here an anecdote of the modesty of 
William Penn. as it relates to the above Charter. On the day 
when it was signed he wrote to several of his friends to inform them 
of it, and among others to R. Turner, (me of the persons mention- 
ed to have been admitted as a partner in the purchase of P^astNew 
Jersey. He savs in this letter, t'at after many waitings, watch- 
ings. solicitimrs. and disputes in Council, bis country was on that 
dav confirmed to him under the Great Seal of Kn!j;Iand, with large 
powers and privileL'"es, by the name of Pennsylvania, a name which 
the King gave it in honour of his father. It was his own intention 
to have had it called New Wales; but the Under Secretary, who 
was a Welshman, opposed it. He then sugirested Sylvania on ac- 
count of its woods, hut thev would still add Penn to it. He ofF.'r- 
ed the Under Secretary twenty guineas t;) i^i^e up his prejudices, 
and to consent to chanyre tlie name ; for he feai-ed lest it shoubl he 
looked UDon as vanity in him, and not as a respect in the King, 
as it truly was. to his fithe:. whom he often mentioned with great 
praise. Finding that all would not do, he went to the King him- 
self to get the name of Penn struck out, or another substituted ; 
but the King saiH t was passed, and that he wouM take t e nam- 
ing of it upon hiinself. lie concluded his letter by hoping that 
God would make the NewLand tht seed of a nation, and by prom- 
ising to use ills own best endeavours to that end, by having a 



OP WII-ilAM PENW. 109 

tender care to the government, so that it should he well laid at 

iiisr. 

The darter having heen signed, the King «;,ave it his further 
authoiitv by a Declaration, dated April tlie second, to all p«>rsons 
designing to become planteis and inhabitants of Fennsyivcinia. 
Tins Declaration pointt-d out to tl.em tlie boundaries of the new 
province, and enjoined tbem to yield all obt^dience to tl e proi)rie- 
etor, his heirs, and his or their deputies, according to the powers 
granted by tl e said (Charter. 

William Ptnii, bavins, now a colony of his own to settle, wa9 
obliged to^i'e up liis niJinagement of that of \^ est New Jersey : 
but it was a ni tter of great satisfaction to liini,that lie bad brought 
it frdtn infaiic to a state of ni.m' OO'I ; to a state in which it could 
take care (»f itself He bad smt to It ab<»ut foui tc n hundred peo- 
ple, of whom t!i«' adults were p.-i sons of high character. The town 
of Rurlington had l:een built. Fa ms bad risen up out of the wild 
vaste. oads had bei'n tonned iieligious meetinsf-bouses had 
been erected in tie , lace of tents cove:ed with sail-cloth, under 
wliic' tie first settiers worshipped. A respectable magisttacy had 
been establish* d. The very Indians too in the neighbourhood had 
been turned into friends and benefactors Such was the situation 
of West >»ew Jersey when he took his leave of it, and therefore 
it was with tie less regret he left it to attend to his own con- 
cerns. 

The first tMng he did. after obtaining the Charter, was to draw 
un " Some Account o' t' e Province of Pennsylva ia in America, 
lately yjant' d under the Great Seal of Kngland to William Perm.'* 
To this Account l-e annexed a copy of the Royal Charter, and also 
tlie term^ on which he intended to part with the land. It appears 
fiom these terms, that any person wishing to become a planter 
mitittthen buy a hundred acres of land for forty shillings, but a 
quit-rent of one shilling was to be reserved to the proprietor for 
every hundred acres for ever. 'F'hus, if a persm bad bought one 
thousand acres, he would have had twenty pcninds to pay for them, 
and ten s!!illiii^':s per annum quit-rent. 'F'be reason of the latter 
sort of payment was t' is namely, that wheieas William Fenn I eld 
o* the King by a small aniuuil rent, otheis were obliyed to liold of 
him in the same manner, bavinjr no security or good title to their 
purchases but by sucli a mode of tenuie. It appears also, that 
renters were to pay one s' ilHn-j, an acre yearly not exceeding two 
hundred acres, and servants were to have fifty acres when the time 
of their servitude expiied. whether men or women, that quantity 
of land being allowed t' eir masters for such purpose. He subjoin- 
ed also to this Account of Pennsylvania bis advice to those who 
were inclin -d to become adventnters. tie latter part of which ran 
thus : " I desire all my dear cout>ti yfolks. wl.o may he inclined to 
go into those parts, to consider seriously the premises, as well the 
inconveniency as future east- and plenty : that so none mav move 
rashly, or from a fickle but from a solid mind, havini: above all 
things an eve to the providence of (lod in the disposins: of t!;em- 
selves ; anfl 1 would further advise all such at leas* t" have the per- 
mission if not the good liking of their near relations, for that ^9 



110 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

both natural and a till ty incambent upon all. And by this, both 
natural dtFectioas anJ a tViendly and profitable correspondence 
will !)e prcfie 'ved between them, in all vvliich 1 beseech Ahnighty 
God to direct us : thut ids ble-sina; tnay attea I our h.onest endeav- 
eurs, and then the consexjuence of all our undetakin-s will turn 
to the glory of his great name, and all true hapjiness to us and our 
posterity." 

He drew up next " Certain Conditions or Concessions to be a^ireed 
upon by William Pienn. Propriet .ry and Governor of the Province of 
Pennsvlvanii,aiidt .ose wiiomay l)ecome \dvenfureisand Purcha- 
sers in the same Province." 'I'hest Conditions .elatd to thebuild- 
in'jj. forming, and settling oftowns, roads, a; d lands.undt<t the treat- 
ment oftr.e natives and ')t!iersu''iecfs. T ey consisted of twenty ar- 
ticles. Amongot!-.erthingsitwasst:pniatedint'iest',tl atno puicha- 
ser of ten thousand acres or more s : ou Id have above a t'ousand acres 
lying together, unless in th.ree vears he planted a family upon ev- 
ery t'lumsmd of the sam;^ Tiiat every man shoild be bound to 

plant or man so much as s lould be suiveyed iind set out to him 
within tiree years alter such survey, or else a new comer should 
be sett ed there^ui, who should pay him his s"rvey-money, and he 
himself s!ioal(l g') up higlier for his share That in clearing the 

f round care should he taken to leave one acre of tret-s for every 
ve acres cleared, esnecially to preser> e laks antl m ilbenies or 

silk and shippinr. n behalf of the In'lians it was stipulated, 

that, as it had been usual with planters to overreach tliem in vari- 
©us ways, whatever was sold to tliem in consideration of their furs 
should be sold in the public nvirket place, an' there s/;/f?» t> e ti'st, 
vhetlter <j;oo'l or bal : if ^nod^ to pass ; if not o-ood. nnt to he sold 
for s;ood ; that the said nnffve Infians mig'ht iieilher he ahust'd nor 

prm'olced. That no man should bv any ways or means, in word 

or *]pQil,nifront or IV r n^; omj hidian. hut tie slidvld incur the savie 
vetjciltij of the hiw ^ s if he had committed it against hisfelloir-plant- 
er : and if any Indian should abuse, in word or deed, any planter 
of toe province, tliatthe said planter should not be his own judge 
upon the. said Indian, hut that he should make his complaint to the 
Governor of the provinc-, or his depuhf, nr so>iie inferior magis- 
tr'ite near liim, who should to the utmost of his power take care 
with the Kino: of the said Indian. t!iat all reasonable satisfaction 
should be made to the said injuied planter • •\u(l that all differ- 
ences between planters and Indians should be ended by twelve 
men, that is, bi/ si.v pltnters and sir Indians, that so they might 
live friendljf togpth^r. as much as in them lay. preventinir all occa- 
sions of heart-burnings antl mischief. Ti;ese stinulations in fa- 
vour of the poo!- natives will forever immortalize the name of U il- 
liain Penn ; fo:- soaring above the prejudices nd customs of his 
time, by which navigators and a<lv -uturers thought it right to con- 
sider the inhab'tants of the lands tl'.ey discovered as their lawful 
prey, or as mere animals of the brute-creation, whom they might 
treat, use. and take advantage of :it their pleasure, he rea:atded 
them as creatures endued with reason, as men of the like feelings 
and passions wit • himse'f, as brethren botli by nature and '.rrare, 
«md as persons, therefore, to whom the great duties of humanity 



OF WILLIAM PEW^f. 111 

and justice were to be extetided, and who, in proportion to their 
i^Uiirance, were the more entitled to his tatherl}' protection and 
ere. 

" The \ccountofPeunsylvania," which was before mentioned, and 
the "Conditions or Concessions," pait of which have been detailed, 
liavins^beeiima-Jelciiown to the public, many purchasers came forward 
b;)r 1 in Loiuloii and Liverpool, and particularly in Bristol. Among 
thuse in t'ie latter city, J. Chivpole, N. Moore, P. Forde, W. 8har- 
loe, F.. Peirce, J. ^^imcock, T. Biacy, E. Brooks, iind others form* 
ed a company, wliich they called •• I'he Free ISociety of Traders in 
Pennsylvani I." They purchased twenty thousand acres of land 
in trust for the said company, puhlished articles of trade, and pre- 
pared for embarkitig in many branches of t'e sanie. Other per- 
sons puichased also, and amonj^ these a great number of Quakers 
from Wales. 

It was necessary, before any of the purchasers embarked, that 
they sl)ould knoAV somethinja; of the political Constitution undejr 
which they were to \\\e in tl.e New Land, as well as that it should 
be such ds they approved. William Penn accordingly drew up a 
rouifh sketch to be suhn)itted to their opinion, of that great Frame of 
Government which he himself wished to become the future and per- 
manent one of the Province. It consisted of twenty -four articles. 
These were preceded by what he called his first or great Funda- 
mental, by which he gave them that liberty of conscience which 
tlie laws of their own country denied them, and in behalf of which 
he had both written and suffered so frequently himself. " In rev- 
erence," says he, '• to God, the father of light and spirits, the au- 
thor as well as object of all divine knowledge, faith, and worship, 
I do, for me and mine, declare and establish for the first funda- 
ment;! of the government of my province that every person that 
doth and shall reside tlierein shall have and enjo}^ the free profes- 
sion of his or her faith and exeicise of worship toward God, in 
such way and manner as everv such person shall in consciencebe- 
iieve U most acceptable to God. And so long as every such per- 
son useth not this Chri-tian liberty to licentiousness or the destruc- 
tion of others, that is to say, to speak loosely and profanely or 
contemptuously of God, Christ, the holy Scriptures, or religion, or 
commit any moral evil or injury against others in tl'eir conversa- 
tion, he or she shall he protected in the enjovment of the aforesaid 
Christian liberty by the civil magistrate." With respect to the 
arti' les of the Frame or Constitution, it is unnecessary to give 
them here, as the substance of them will be communicate*! in 
another place. It may be sufficient to (tbseive. that the tnercbants 
and adventurers were well pleased with them, and that they unan- 
imouslv signed them. Nor was William Penn less satisfied with 
himself, as having done his duty in proposing them, if we may 
judge from a second letter to R. Turner, which he Avrote just at 
the time when l\e had resolved upon t' em. '• I have been," says 
he. " these th.irteen years the servant of Truth and Friends, and 
for my testimony's sake lost much : not only the greatness and pre- 
ferment ^-f this world, hut sixteen thousand pounds of mv estate, 
which. had I not b<^en what I am. I had long ago obtained. But I 



11^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

inurmur not ; t^ie Lord is go -d to me, and th*^ interest Ids truth 
has 2;iven me with iiis people may more than re;air i*^ ; for man^ 
are dra^v forth to he C(Hi<;erned with ine. an<l perhaps tl^is way of 
satisfaction hath more the hand of God in H than a dowtirisi^ht pay- 
ment. This I can sav, that \ had an openiii; o' joy as to t!ie.se 
parts in tlie year 1061 at Oxford, twenty years sincc* : aii'i as iny 
understanding and inclinations hae heen much dii-ected to ob- 
serve and reprove mischiefs in G >vern iiMit, so it is rvuv pni in- 
to my ptivi'r to settle o»p. For fhp matters >/ Hhprtij ml privilege 
(alludini; to these .ntirles). I p-irpose that <\ hich is estraordin >ry, 
and leave myself and an ccf<i<or<i ii> pnvr of ■^'>in:, )n''scAi/, :hat 
the will of one man mni n<it lunhv the good of a whute coiintr'i.^^ 
The Conditions and Frame of Government h3vin2;been mutud- 
ly signed, three ships full of passe n 're rs set sail for Pennsylvania; 
two from Ijondon. and one from Bristol. It appears that the John 
and Sarah from London. Henry Soiith master, arrived first ; and 
the Bristol Factor, fioger Dievv master, the next. The last vessel 
arrived at the place where Chester n iw stan<ls. Here the passen- 
gers, seeing some houses, went on shore ; and here,tlie river being 
frozen up that night, thev ro'inint'd all the winter. Ihe other 
London s'lip, the Vmity. liichard Dimon master, was blo\\n off 
■with her passengers to the West Indies, and did not arrive at the 
province till the sirring of the next vear 

In one of the-e sinps went Colon'd NVilliam INlarkbam. He was 
a relation of ^Villiam Penn, and was to be his secretary when he 
himself should arrive. He whs at^'od^-d by several Commission- 
ers, whose object was to co ifer with the Indians respectinii; their 
lands, an 1 to endeavour to make with them a lei'i;ue of eternal 
peace. With this view thev were enjoined in a s')lemn manner to 
treat them with all n ossible can 'our, justice, and huinanity. Thej 
■were the bearers also of a letter to them, which William Penn 
■wrote with his own hand, and of which the following is a copy : 

** There is a ^reat ■ od, and Power, which hath made tUe world 
and all thin j:s therein, to whom vou, and I, and all peo])le owe 
their being and wel'-bein".";. and to whom vou and I must one day 
give an account for all that we have done in this world. 

" This great God has written Ids law in our hearts, by which we 
are taught ind commanded to love, and to help, and to do good to 
one another. Now this s:reat God hath heen nie-ised to make me 
concerned in your part of the world : and the King of the country 
•where I live bath given me a great province therein : but I desire 
to enjoy it with your ]ove and consent, that we may always live 
together as neii^hbours and friends : else what wou'd the great 
God do to us. vvho hath made us (not to dev -U' and destroy one 
another, hut) to live soberlv ami kindlv tO!:;ether in the world ? 
Now, I would have vou well observe, that I am ver^' sensible of 
the unkindness and injustice which have been too much exercised 
toward you by the peon'e of tlies** parts of tie world, who have 
sought themselves to make great advantages by you, rat!ier than 
to be examples of g:»odn'^ss and patience unto vou. This I bt'ar 
hath heen a matter of trouble to you, and caMsed "-r^iit 'rrndijing 
and animosities, sometimes to the shedding of blood j which hatn 



♦ F WILMaM PENN. 11$ 

Tjia'le the groat God ano-rj. But I am not such a man, as is well 
known in my own country. 1 have great love and re, ard toward 
yon, and desire to win and gain your love and friendship by a 
kind, JHst, and peaceable life : and tlic people I sentl are of the 
same mind, and shall in all things behave tliemselves accordintjlv ; 
and if in any tliiny; any shall offend you or your people, you shall 
have a full and speedy satisfaction for the same, by an equal 
niiuiher of just men on both sides, that by no means you may have 
just occasion of being offended against them. 

" 1 shall shortly come to see you myself, at ^^hich time we may 
more large'y and freely confer and discourse of tbese matters. In 
the mean time I have sent my Commissioners to treat with voii 
about land and a firm league of peace. Let me desire you to be 
kind to them an<l to the people, and receive the presents and to- 
kens, which I have sent you, as a testiiMonv of my good will to 
you. and of my resolution to live justly, peaceably, and friendly 
with you. 

" I am your loving Friend, 

" William Penn." 

About this time William Penn was elected a Kellow o^'the Roy- 
al Society. He had before been acquainted witli the celebrated 
Dr. John Wallis, who had been one of tbe chief instruments ia 
founding it ; but in the presi'nt year he wrote him a letter, in which 
he expressed to bim the satisfaction he felt on hearing of tbe pro- 
gress of the Institution, as v/ell as the high opinion he entertained 
of the advantages wbich would lesult to science from its labours, 
and in which (now going out to Pennsylvania) he offered to con- 
tribute to its usefulness to the utmost of his power. It is probable, 
from this letter, that Dr. W^allis was the person who nominated 
him to the above honour. 

Among tbe letters which he wrote this year to private persons, 
I shall select one, on account of the siviipHcity and beauty of ex- 
pression, as well as holy feeling, which pervade it. Robert Vick- 
ris, who lived at Chew in Somersetshire, had a son, Richard, \\ ho 
became a Quaker, and afterwards an eminent suffeier in that soci- 
ety His fatter, however, still adhered to hi? own religion : but 
he did not persecute his son for bavin;; left it. This made such an 
impression on William Penn, who liad suffered so much from his 
fiither on that account, that he loved Rohei t as a brother, and w as 
anxious above measure for his spiritvial welfare Soon after leav- 
ing Bristol, whither he had been in the autumn to establish '' The 
Free Society of Traders to Pennsylvania" ftefore spoken of. and 
where he had again seen Robert, he wrote him tiie following short 
letter : 

" Dear Fuiend, 

*' In my dear and heavenly farevvoll to the city of Bristol thou 
wert often upon my spirit, and the wishes of m}^ sou! are. that the 
Lord would abundantly fdl thee with the consolations of his holy 
Spirit, and that tlic days thou iiast to pass on this side of the orave, 
thou mayest be fitted for bis coming, that comes as a thief in the 
night, that «f what watch of the ni<^ht sovcrit bejhou mai/cst awctfce 
u:it-> hi? likcves-''^. and enter thp vp^t thet i"^ eterpdl- >So the Lord 
P 



5514 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

more and more gather thee out of every visible, fading thing, and 
prepare thee, for himself! Deai- Friend, be faithful to that appear- 
ance of God and manifostation of the love of the Lord to thj soul 
that visits thee. The Lord i&near thee,iciththee, and in thee, to en- 
lighten^melt and reft esh thee. ' / ishispresejice.notseen oi felt of the 
wicked, that gathers and revives the nmd that seeks him. So the 
Lord be with thee, and remember into thy bosom the sincere love 
thou host shown to thy son and his friends J I say no more, but in 
the Lord farewell I 

" Thy truly aftectionate Friend, 

" William Penn." 



■AUDr- 



CHAPTEJl XVIIL 

v«5. 1682 — has a narrow escape from prison— -assists B. Davies—^ 
his sickness on the death of his mother — tetter wrilten by him at 
that time — publishes his Frame of Gavernmew — admirable pre- 
face thereto — substance of the said hrame and of the Laws'— bars 
all future claim upon Pennsylvania by the Duke of I'ork — ob- 
tains a fresh e;rant called the Territories — haves a tetter tu hi» 
wife and children — embarks in the IJoums — writes a fareivell 
epistle from thence and a letter to S. Crisp-^sails, and arrives 
at J\''ewcastle — calls the first General Assembly at Upland, then 
new named Chester — business done there—visits JSTew York and 
J\iaryland — returns, and makes his great treaty with the Indians 
' — goes to Pennshury — fia'es on a site for his new city — plan of it 
-—calls it Philadelphia— divides the land into counties — lays out 
townships — two of his letters tchile so employed — reserves a 
thousand acres for G. Foa^ — receives new reinforcements of set- 
tlers — gives them a plan for huts— amount of the latter — their 
way of living after their arrival — appoints sheriffs to the differ- 
ent counties — issues writs to these for calling the Assemblies in 
the spring. 

William Penn in the beginning of this year had a narrow es- 
cape from prison. Men's minds were much heated at this time in 
the city of London on account of the clioosinsr of sheriifs, so thatj 
■when he went on the Sunday to Divine worship in Gracechurch- 
street, he found the vard in which the meeting-house stood crowd- 
ed with soldiers. After sitting awhile in the meeting he began to 
preach. L^pon this a constable came forward with his staff and 
Ijade him give over and come down. He went on, however, as if 
nothing had happened, till he finished his discourse. George Fox, 
■who rose up and preached after him. was assailed in thesameman- 
ner. But the words delivered by the preachers were so impres- 
sive, that the constable, who was a tender-hearted man, felt him- 
self as it were disarmed, so that he could not <lischarge his office. 
It appeared, that he and others had come with a warrant to appve- 



OF WILLIAM PENH'. 115 

hend them on the information of one Hilton, who had set out witk 
them to execute it, but had run away. Findingthe informer gone, 
and having some doubt as to the legality of executing the warrant 
on the Sabbatii-day, the constable was willing to allow these to 
operate upon his mind as circumstances which would justify him 
in taking no furtlier notice of the affair. 

A writ liaving been issued in Wales against Richard Davis, a 
Welsli Quaker, wlio was then in London, for taking him up on his 
return Iio,iie,as an excommunicated person on the statute against 
Popish Recusants, William Penn interested himself on his behalf, 
and procured him a letter from the Lord Hyde to his diocesan, the 
learned Dr. LIoyd.,.bisliop of St. Asaph ; the consequence of which 
^vas, not only that tlie writ was stayed, but tliat some persons sim- 
ilarly circumstanced with Davies were not molested, and others 
Avere disc!iaru;ed from prison. 

About tliis time !iis mother died, for whom he had the deepest 
filial att'ectiou. She had often interposed in his behalf, when his 
father was anirry with him for his dereliction of church principles 
and of the honours and fashions of tb.e world, and she took him 
under her wing and supported him when he was turned out of 
doors for the same reason. It is said that he was so affected by 
her death, that he was ill for some days. A letter has come down 
to us, which he wrote at tl'is time in answer to a friend who had 
solicited bis advice, from which we may collect that he had been 
certainly indisptised on the occasion ; and as the language of grief 
is usually short, so tlie conciseness of this letter, together with the 
sentiment contained in it, seems to imply that his mind was then 
oppressed by the event, and his religious consideration of it. It 
runs thus : 

•' Dkar Friend, 

" Both thy letters came in a few days one of the other. My 
sickness upon my mother's death, who was last seventh day inter- 
red, permitted me not to answer thee so soon as desired ; but on 
a serious weighing of thy inclinations, and perceiving to last thy 
uneasiness under my constrained silence, it is most clear to me to 
counsel tliee to sink down into the seasoning, settling gift of God, 
and to wait to distinguish between thy own desires and the Lord's 
requirings." 

Having paid tlie last earthly offices of respect to ids mother, he 
began by degrees to turn his mind to his American concerns. The 
first thing he did was to publish the Frame of Government or Con- 
stitution of Pennsylvania, mentioned in the last chapter. To this 
he added s noble preface, containing his own thoughts upon the 
origin, nature, object, and modes of Government | a preface, in- 
deed, so beautiful, and full of wise and just sentiments, that I 
should fail in my duty if I were to withhold it from the reader.' 

" When the great and wise God had made the world, of all his crea- 
tures it pleased him to choose man his deputy to rule it : and to tit hm 
for so great a charge and trust, he did not only qualify him with skill 
and power, but with integrity to use them justly. This native good- 
ness was equally his honour and his happiness ; and, whilst he 
stood here, all went well : there was no need of coercive or com- 



116 MSMOIKS OF THE LIFE 

pulslve means : the precept of divine love and truth in his bosom 
w;is the guide and keeper of liis iimoceiicy. But lust, prevailing 
against duty, made a lamentable bread) upon it : ami the la\v,t'iat 
had hefore no power over hin\, took place upon him and his disobe- 
dient posterity, that such as irould not lice cunfnnnnble o the holtf 
law within, should fall under the repiool and currecLion oj the Just 
laiv without in a Judicial administration 

" This the apostle teac'ies in divers of his epistles. ' The law,' 
says he, ' was added because of traiisgressio;i.' In anotlier place, 
* knouing that the law \\a« not made f u- the riglueous inan.bnt for 
the disobe Hent and ungodly, for siniieis, for unholy and profane, 
for murderers,' and others. But tlds is not aih he opens antl car- 
ries tbe matter of Govei nment a little further ; • Let every soul be 
subject to the liigher pow ers, foi- there is no power but of God. The 
powers that be are ordained ot God : whosoever therefore resist- 
eth the power resisteth the ordinance of God : for rulers are not a 
terror to good works, hut to e%il. Wilt thou then not be afraid of 
the power } Do that which is good, an 1 t!u)u slialt have praise of 

t e same. ^He is the minister of God to thee for good. . 

"Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but for 
conscience sake.' 

'* This settles the divine right of Government beyond exception, 
and that (or two ends : first, to terrify evil-doers ; secondly, to 
cherish those that do well ; whicii ^ives Government a iif' beyond 
corruption, and makes it as durable in the world as good men shall 
be, so that Government seems to me a part of religion itself, a 
thing sacred in its institution and end ; for, if it does not directly 
remove the cause, it crushes tlie effects of evil, and is. as such, 
though a lower, yet an emanation of the same ilivine Power tiat is 
both author and object of pure religion : the difterence lying here, 
that the one is more free and mental, the other more corporal and 
compulsive in its operation : but that is onlv to evil-doers. Gov- 
ernment itself being otherwise as capable of kindness, goodness, 
and charitv. as a more private society. Tbey iveakly err^ who 
think th're is nn ot^'er use of i::;f>vprnuient than correction, 
vhich is the coarsest part of if. Diiil v experience tells us, that 
the care and regulation of many other affairs, more soft and daily 
neci'ssary, make up much tbe greatest part of government, and 
■which must have folhuved the peopling of the world, bad Adam 
never fallen, and will continue amonij men on earth under the 
hisrhest attaimrients thev mav arrive at by tne coming of t'le bles- 
sed second Adam, the fiord from he.iven. Thus much of Govern- 
ment in general as to its rise and end. 

'^ For nartir lar f -ames and mxlels, it wi'l become me to say 
little, and, rem arat'velv, I will sav not'un<x- My reasons are, 
first, that t'lc a; e is too nice an<l difficult for it, there being noth- 
ing the wits of men are more husv and divided upon. 'Tis true 
thevseem f!> as-ree in the end, to wit. happine-.«s. hut in the means 
they differ, as to divine, so to this human felicitv: and the cause 
is much t''e same, not alwavs leant of (iz-ht and knoivledg;p, hut 
want ofusin'2; them ri^hthi ."ilen side with their passions a^^'ainst 
their reason ; and their sinister interests have so strong a bias up- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. llf 

©n tbeir minds, that they lean to them against the good of the things 
tlieij laviw. 

**• >ec()ncllv. I do not find a model in the world, fhnf time^ place, 
and same sinzuta^' emergencies hav- not necessarily attend ; imris 
it>asy tt) frame a civil a over nvit^nt ti'iat shall serve all places alike, 

'• Thirdlv. I know what is said I'j the several admirers of nion» 
arcliy. arisfocracv. and democracy, which are the rule of one, of a 
few, and of many, and are the three common ideas ot >ioveinment 
\\\\eu men discourse on that suhject. But I choose to solve tiiO 
controversy with this so. all «listinctinri,and it belongs to a!i three : 
Auy government is free to the people under i^, v\liatever be the 
frame, ivhere fh- laws i ule and the pei.ple a>e a party to those laws ; 
and more tl-nn this is tyramiy. oligarchy and confusion. 

" But. lastly, when all is said, there is hardly one frame of gov- 
ernment in the world so ill desijined by its first founders, that in 
good hands would not do well enough : and story tells us. that the 
best in ill ones can do nothing that is great and good ; witness the 
Jewish atul Roman spates. Governments, like clocks, go from the 
motion men give them ; and as governments are made and moved 
by nien, so by them they are ruined too. fVhenf are governments 
valuer de end vpon men, than men npon g <vernmen!s. Let men be 
good, and the government cannot be bad. If it be ill they will cure 
it. Bid if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they 
will endeavour to warp and spoil it to their turn. 

'' I know some say, liCt us have good lav/s, and no matter 
for the men that execute them. But let them consider, that ti ongh 
good I, wi> do well, good men dobel.er ; fur good laws may leant 
good men, and b^ abolished or invaded by ill men ; but good men. will 
never want good lows, nor suffer ill ones 'Tis true good laws have 
some aw e upon ill ministers, but that is where these have not pi»w- 
er to escape or abolish tliem, and where the people are generally 
wise an<l good : but a loose and depraved people (uhich is to the 
question) lo\e laws and an administration like themselves. That 
therefore, which makes a good constitution, must keep it ; namely^ 
men of wisdom and virfne, qual'tiesthat, because they descend not 
with worldly inheritances, must be curefnlly propagated by a vir- 
tuous education of youth, for whirh after-ages will owe more to 
the care and prudence of founders and Ihe successive magistracy^ 
than tn their paients for their private pntrimcnies. 

" These considerations of the weight of government, and the 
nice and vaiious opinions a' out it, made it uneasy to me to think 
of publishing the ensuing Frame and Conditional Laws, foresee- 
ing both the censures they uill meet vvitli from men of difteiing 
humours and enjiajiements, and the occasion they may give of dis- 
course beyond mv design. 

" But nest t(» the power of necessity, which is a solicitor that 
will take no denial, this induced me to a compliance, that we have, 
with reverence to (iod and good conscience to men. to the best of 
our skill, contrived a?)d composed the Frame and Laws of this 
Government to the >. re it end of government, to support power in 
reverence witli the people, and ti> secure the people from the abuse 
of power, that they may be free by tlieirjust obedience, andth* mag- 



118 MEMOIRS OF THE LIYE 

istrates honourable for their just administration ; for liberty icith^ 
out obedience is cunfasion, and obedience witiiuut liberty is slavery. 
To carry this evenness is partly owing to tue constitution, and 
partly to t\\e oiagistracy. Where either of these fail, government 
will he subject to convulsions ; but where both are wanting, it 
must be totally subverted : then where both meet, the government 
is like to endure, which I hi.mhly pray and hope God will please 
to make tlie lot of this of Pennsylvania. Amen." 

The Frame, which followed this preface, consisted of twenty- 
four articles ; and the Laws, which were annexed to the latter, 
were forty. 

By the Frame the government was placed in the Governor and 
Treemen of the province, out of whom were to be formed two bo- 
dies; namely, a Provincial Council and a General Assembly. 
These were to be chosen by the Freemen ; and triiough the Govern- 
or or his Deputy was to be perpetual President, he was to have but 
a treble vote. The Provincial Council was to consist of seventy- 
two members. One third part, that is, twentv-fnur of them, were 
to serve for three rears, one tliird for two, and the other third for 
one : so that there might be an annual succession of twenty-four 
new members, each third part thus continuing for three years and 
no longer. It was the office of tliis Council to prepare and pro- 
pose bills, to see that the laws were executed, to take care of the 
peace and safety of the province, to settle the situation of portsj 
cities, market towns, roads, and other public places, to inspect the 
public treasury, to erec*^ courts of justice, institute schools, and 
reward the authors of useful discovery. Not less than two thirds 
of these were necessary to make a quorum: and the consent of 
not less than two thirds of such quorum in all matters of moment. 
The General Assembly was to consist the first year of all the free- 
men, and the next of two hundred. These were to be increased 
afterwards according to tlie increase of the population of the prov- 
ince. They were to have no deliberative power; but, when bills 
were brought to them from the Governor and Provincial Council, 
to pass or reject them by a plain Yes or No. They were to pre- 
sent sheriffs and justices of the peace to the Governor, a double 
number for his choice of half. They ivere to be el'cfed annually. 
All elections of members, whetlver to the Provincial Council or 
General Assembly, ivere to be by ballot. And this Charter or Frame 
of Government was not to be altered, changed, or diminished in 
any part or clause of it, without the consent of the Governor, or 
his heirs or assigns, and six parts out of seven of the Freemen, botii 
in the Provincial Council and General Assembly. 

With respect to the Laws, which I said before were forty in 
number, I shall only at present observe of them, that they related 
to whatever may be included under the term " Good Government 
of the Province ; some of them to liberty of conscience ; others ta 
civil officers and their qualifications ; others to ofiences ; others ta 
legal proceedings, sucli as pleadings, processes, fines, imprison- 
ments and arrests ; others to the natural servants and poor of tlie 
province. With respect to all of them it may be observed, that, 
like the Frame itself, they could not be altered but by the consent 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 119 

af the Governor, or heirs, and the consent of six parts out of seven 
of the two bodies before mentioned. 

William Penn having pubiished the Frame as now concisoly ex- 
plained, thought it of great importance, in order to prevent all fu- 
ture claim or even pretence of claim by the Duke of York or his 
heirs upon the province, to obtain frou) His Royal Highness a deed 
of release for the same. Thisdeed was accordingly made out. It wit- 
nessed, that His Royal Highness, out ofa special regard to the memo- 
ry and faithful and eminent services performed by Vice-Admiral Sir 
tV m. Penn to His Majesty and to iiis said Royal Highness, and for 
the better encouragement of William Penn, his son, to proceed in 
the cultivating and improving the tract of land then called Penn- 
sylvania, and in reducing the savage and barbarous nations tliere- 
of to civility, and for the good will wliich his said Royal Highness 
had and bore to the said William Penn, his son, did for himself 
and his heirs quit and release for ever to the said William Penn 
and his heirs all the said tract of land. This deed was signed by 
His Royal Highness on the twenty -first of August 1682, and was 
sealed and delivered in the presence of Jolin Werden and George 
Man. 

Besides the above, he obtained of His Royal Highness the Duke 
efYork his right, title and interest in another tract of land, of res- 
pectable extent, which lay contiguous to Pennsylvania. This was 
at that time inhabited by Dutch and Swedes. The Dutch had long 
before made war upon and conquered the Swedes ; and the English 
had afterwards conquered both, and had annexed the country they 
occupied to that which belonged to His Koyal Highness, and placed 
it under his Government of New York. This tract then, Mhich was 
known afterwards by the name of The Territories, was presented 
to William Penn. It was made over to him, his heirs and assigns, 
by two deeds of feoftment, dated the twenty -fourth of August 1682, 
ifj which the boundaries were duly specified, and particularly those 
between the said Territories and Maryland. 

William Penn had now done almost everything tliathe judged to 
be necessary previously to his embarkation. He had barred all claim 
from the Duke of York upon his piovince of Pennsylvania. He 
had added the territories to it, upon which there was a considera- 
ble population. He had published his Frame of Government and 
l^aws, which were suitable to both. He had engaged a ship for 
the voyage. He had put most of his stores, furniture, and other 
articles on board. There was yet, however, one thing which he 
v/as desirous of doing. His mind, as the time of his departure drew 
near, began to be seriously affected about his wife and children, 
and particularly about their spiritual welfare, during an absence 
the length of which, on account of the numerous wants of an in- 
fant-settlement daily to be attended to, he could not foresee. He 
resolved therefore to put down what occuired to him in the 
Avay of advice to them as to their conduct during his ab-v 
sence, and to leave it with them in the form ofa letter. This let- 
ter has been preserved ; and as it is very beautiful on account of 
the simplicity and patri,irchal spirit in wbi^h it is written, and 



i20 MEMOIRS OF THE LITE 

truly valuable on account of its contents. I shall give it as an acx' 
ceptable prescMif to such readers as may not yet have seen it : 
•'• My dear wilf and c'lildren. 

" Mv love, which neither sea, nor land, nor death itself, can ex- 
tinguish or lessen toward you. most cndearedly visits you with 
eternal embraces, and will abide with you forever: and may the 
God of mv lie watch over you. and niess you, aid do you good in 

this world and for ever ! Some things are upon my spiiit to 

leave with you in your respi^ctive capacities as I am to one a hus- 
band, and to the rc^t a father, if 1 should never see you more in this 
world. 

" My dear wife ! remember thou wast the love of my youth, and 
much the joy of my li'e : the most b^-loved, as well as most worthy 
of all my earthly coniforts : and tl e reas')n of that love was more 
thy inward than thy outward excellencies, wliich yet were many. 
G'ld knows, and thou knowest it, I can say it was a matcli of Prov- 
idence's makin , ; and (rod's image in us both was the first thing, 
and the most amiable and enga<iing ornament in our eyes. Now 
I am to leave thee, and t at without knuwinu; whether I shall ever 
see thee more in this world, tike my c tuns^^l into thy bosom, and 
let it dwell with thee in my stead w!)ile thou livest. 

<* First : Let t'le fear of the LonI and a zeal and love to his glo- 
ry dwell richly in thy heart ; and thou wilt watch for ijood over 
thyself and thv dear children and familv.t'^at no rude, light or bad 
thing be co^nmitted : els^ God will he oftended, and he will repent 
himself of the ijood he intends thee and thine. 

" Secondlv : Be dilii>ent in meetings for worship and business ; 
stir up thyself and others herein ; it is thy duty and place : and 
let meetings be kent once a dav in the family to wait upon the 
Lord, who lias siven us much time for our^^elves : and. my dearest, 
to make thv family matters easy to thee, divide thv time, anil be 
re^mlar • it is easvani sweet : thv retiiemont wi;l afford thee to do 
it : as in the morninsj to view the business of the house, and fix it 
as tliou desirest, seeing all be in O'der, that by thv counsel all may 
move, and to thee render an account everv evening The time 
for work, for walking, for meals, mav be certain, at least as hear 
as mav be • and grieve not thysi.df witl- careless servants ; they 
will disorder ti»ee ; rather pay them, and let tliem go. if they will 
not be better by admonitions : this is best to avoid many words^ 
which I know wouml the soul, and offend the Lord. 

" I'hiidly : Cast up thy income, and see what it daily amounts 
to ; bv which thou mavest he sure to have it in t'lv si2;ht and pow- 
er to keep within compass : and 1 heseech thee to live low and 
snarindv till my debts are paid ; and then enlarge as thou seest it 
convenient. Remember thy mother's example, when thy father's 
public-spiritedness had worsted his estate (which is mv case). I 
know thou Invest plain things, and art averse to the pomps of the 
world ; a nobilitv natural to t!iee. f write not as douhtful. but to 
quick Ml thee, for my sake, to be more via;ilant herein ; knowing 
that God will bless thv care, and thy noor c' ildren and thee for 
it. My mind is wrapt up in a saying of thy father's, ' 1 desire not 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 1'21 

i'icbt'S.^uir fo owe nothing ;' and truly t atis weaUli.aiid more than 
eiiiiugli to live is a snare .itteiuled with uiaiiy sorrows, i need 
Jiot t)i(l t re he hunihle, fitr tliou art so; nor meek and patient, for 
k is much oi thv natuiai disposition : but I pray thee be oft in re- 
tirement with the Li.rd. and ^uard against encroiching friend- 
sliips. Keep then> at arms end ; lor it is ■ iving away our power, 
ay ;ind self too, into the jiossession of anotlier; and tliat which 
miglit seem engaging in the beginning may prove a ycrke and bur- 
den too hard and heavy in the end. Wherefore keep <lominioa 
over thvself. and let t'ly children, good meetings, and Friends, be 
the pleasure of thy life. 

"Fourthly: And now, my deare>t, let me recommend to thj 
care my de r children : abundantly beloved of me. as tl<e Lord's 
blessings, a'ld the sweet pledges of our mutual and endeared af- 
fection. Above all things endeavoui- 1 » breed them up in the love 
of virtue, and that holy idain way of it which we have lived in, 
that the world in no part of it get into my family. I had rather 
they were homely than finely bred astooutw;ird behaviour: yet [ 
love sweetness mixed witli giavity, and cheerfulness tempered 
%vith sobriety. IJeligion in the heart leads into this true civilitv, 
teaching men and women to be mild and couiteous in tlieir be- 
haviour, an accomplishment worthy indeed of praise, 

"Fifthly: Next breed then) up in a love one of anotlier: tell 
them it is the charge I left betiind me ; and that it is the way to 
have the love and blessinii- of God upon them ; also what his por- 
tion is, who hates, or calls his brother fool. Sometimes separate 
them, but not long: and al'ow tisem to send and giv each other 
small things to endear or'e another with. Once mor^ T sav, tell 
them it was mv c- unsel they 8h(Mdd be tender and affectionate one 
to another. For their learnins: he liberal. 8n;^jve no cost : for by 
such parsimony all is lo>t t'lat is saved : but let it be usefu' know- 
ledge, such as is consistent witli t nth anr' godliness, not cherish- 
in<ravain conversatioti orid'e min<K l>«t ingenuity mixed with in- 
dustry is good for tie b idy and mind too. ! reco nuiend t'le use- 
ful parts of matliematics. as buildin'j; hoiisps or ships. m<'asuring, 
surveying, diallins, navigation : but a<rriculture is especiidlv in my 
eve : let my children i)e hus'iandmen and luuisewives : it is indus- 
trious, healthy, honest, and of -/iiod examnle : like Abraham and 
t'le holy ancients, who pleased <jrod. and obtained a good report. 
This leads to consider the w(t'ks of (lod and nature, of things that 
are good, and diverts t'le mind from beiii<r taken up with the vaia 
arts and inventions of a luxurious world. It is con^mendable in the 
princes of Gerinanv, and tlie nobles of that empire, tliat they have 
all tlieir children instructed in some useful occupation Ratlier 
k<en an ingenious person in t' e house to teach them, than send 
theiTi to schofds, too many evil imv^ressionsbeini) commonly receiv- 
ed tliere. lie sure to ohser\e t eir genius, an ' do not cross it as 
to learning: let t!>em not dwid! tito lonjr on one thing: but let 
theii- change he aureeahle. and all their dive-sions '^ave some little 
bodily laboui- in tlsem. W e;i grown biir, bnve niost care for them ; 
for then there are more snare** "^'oth v, it'-in aiid without. When 
marriageable, see that thev have worthy persons in their eye, of 

Q 



122 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

good life, and good fame for piety and understanding. I need no 
wealtli, but sufficiency : and be sure their love bedear,fervent,and 
mutual, that it may be happy for them. 1 choose not they should 
be married to earthly, covetous kindred ; and of cities and towns 
of concourse beware 5 the world is apt to stick close to those who 
have lived and got wealth there : a country life and estate I like 
best for my children. I prefer a decent mansion, of an hundred 
pounds per annum, before ten thousand pounds in F^ondon, or such 
like place, in a way of trade. In fine, my dear, endeavour to breed 
them dutiful to the Lord, and his blessed light, truth, and grace in 
their hearts, who is their Creator, and his fear will grow up with 
them. Teach a child (says the Wise Man) the way thou wilt have 
him to walk, and when heis old he will not forget it. Next, obe- 
dience to thee their dear mother ; and that not for wrath, but for 
conscience sake; liberal to the poor, pitiful to the miserable, hum- 
ble and kind to all : and may my God make thee a blessing, and give 
thee comfort in our dear children ; and in age gather thee to the 
joy and blessedness of the just (where no death shall separate us) 
for ever ! 

" And now, my dear children, that are the gifts and mercies of 
the God of your tender father, hea*" my counsel, and lay it up in 
jour hearts; love it more than treasure, and follow it, and you 
shall be blessed here, and happy hereafter. 

" In the first place, remember your Creator in the days of your 
youth. It was the glory of Israel in the second of Jeremiah : and 
how did God bless Josiah because he feared him in his youth ! and 
so he did Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. O my dear children, remem- 
ber, and fear, and serve him who made you, and gave you to me 
and your dear mother ; that you may live to him and glorify him in 
your generations ! 

" To do this, in your youthful days seek after the Lord, that 
you may find him ; remembering his great love in creating you ; 
that you are not beasts, plants, or stones, but that he has kept you, 
and given you his grace within, and substance without, and pro- 
vided plentifully for you. This remember in your youth, that you 
may be kept from the evil of the world : for in age it will be harder 
to overcome the tf^mptations of it. 

" Wherefore, my dear children, eschew the appearance of evil, 
and love and cleave to that in your hearts which shows you evil 
from good, and tells you when you do amiss, and reproves you for 
it. It is the light of Christ that he has given you for your salva- 
tion. If you do this, and follow my counsel, God will bless you 
in this world, and give you an inheritance in that which shall nev- 
er have an end. For the light of Jesus is of a purifying nature ; it 
seasons those who love it and take heed to it ; and never leaves 
such, till it has brought them to the city of God, that has founda- 
tions. O that ye may be spasoned with the gracious nature of it ! 
hide it in your hearts, and flee, my dear children, from all youth- 
ful lusts ; the vain snorts, pastimes, and pleasures of the world 5 

redeeming the time, because the davs are evil ! You are now 

beginning to live What would some give for your time ? Oh! 

I could have lived better, were 1. as vou, in the flower of youth. 



OF WILLIAM PENK. 123 

Therefore love and fear the Lord, keep close to meetings, and 

delight to wait on the Lord God of yoiir father iiiid motlier, among 
his despised people, as we have done ; and count it your honour to 
be members of that Society, and heiis of tliat living fellowship 
which is enjoyed among them, for the experience of which your fa- 
ther's soul blesscth the L,ord for ever. 

" i^t'xt : be obedient to jMur dear mother, a woman whose vir- 
tue and good name is an honour to you ; for she hath been exceed- 
ed by none in her time for her plainness, integrity, industry, hu- 
manity, virtue, and good understanding; qualities not usual among 
women of her worldly condition and quality. Therefore honour and 
obey her, my dear children, as your mother, and your father's love 
and delight ; nay love her too, for she loved your father with a deep and 
upright love, choosing him before all her many suitors : and though 
she be of a delicate constitution and noble spirit, yet she descend- 
ed to the utmost tenderness and care for you, performing the pain- 
fulest acts of service to you in your infancy, as a mother and a 
nurse too. I cliarge 3'ou, before the Lord, honour and obey, love 
and cherish your dear mother. 

" Next betake yourselves to some honest, industrious course of 
life, and that not of sordid covetousness, but for example and to 
avoid idleness. And if you change your condition and raarry, 
choose, with the knowledge and consent of your mother if living, 
or of guardians, or those that have the charge of you. Mind nei- 
ther beauty nor riclies, but the fear of the Lord, and a sweet and 
amiable disposition, such as you can lose above all this world, 
and that may make your habitations pleasant and desirable to you. 

" And being married be tender, aftectionate, patient, and meek. 
Live in the fear of the Lord, and he will bless you and your off- 
spring. Be sure to live within compass ; borrow not, neither be 
beholden to any. Ruin not yourselves by kindness t(» others ; for 
that exceeds the due bounds of friendship, neither will a true friend 
expect it. Small matters I heed not. 

'" Let your industry and parsimony go no further than for a suf- 
ficiency for life, and to make a provision for your children, and 
that in moderation, if the Lord gives you any. I charge you help 
the poor and needy ; let the Lord have a voluntary share of your 
income for the good of the poor, both in our Society and others ; 
for we are all his creatures ; remembering that ' he that giveth to 
the poor lendeth to the Lord.' 

" Know well your in-c(»mings, and your out-goings may be bet- 
ter regulated. Love not money nor the world : use them only, 
and they will S(>rve you ; hut if you love them you serve them, 
which will debase your spirits as well as offend the Lord. 

" Pity the distressed and hold out a hand of help to them ; it 
may be your case ; and as you mete to others God will mete to you 
again. 

" Be humble and gentle in your conversation ; of few words, I 
charge you ; but always pertinent when you s eak, hr'arin; out be- 
fore you attempt to answer, and then speaking as if you would per- 
suade, not impose. 



124 MEMOinSOF THE LIFE 

" Affront none, neither revenge the affronts that are clone ta 
you ; hut forgive, and you shall be forgiven of}' our Heavenly Father. 

'• In inaking friends cousi<ler well first; and when you are x- 
ed he true, not wavering by reports nor deserting in affliction, for 
that becomes not the good and virtuous. 

"" Watch against an^er, neither s eak nor act in it; for, like 
drunkenness, it makes a man a beast, and throws people into des- 
perate inconveniences. 

*' Avoid batterers, for they are thieves in disguise ; their praise 
is costi » , designing to get by those they bespeak ; t'ley are the 
worst of ere itures ; t!iev lie 'o flatter, and (latter to clieat ; and, 
tvhich is worse, if you believe t!iem y m c leat yourselves most dan- 
gerously. But the virtutus. thouijh pour, love, cherish, and pi-e- 
ier. R>'me!iiber David, who asking the J-ord, • Who shall abide 
in thv tabernacle ? wlro sliall dwell upon thv holy hill ?' answ^'rs, 
" He that walketh upri^litly. worketii righteousness, and speaketli 
the truth in his heart : in whose eyes the vile person is contemned, 
but honoureth them who fear the Lord.' 

" Next, mv children, be temperate in all things ; in your diet, 
for that is phvsic bv prevention; it kee.s, nay it makes people 
healthy, and their i;eneration soun<l. Ttiis is exclusive of the spi- 
ritual advantage it brings, lie also plain in your apparel; keep 
out that lust which reigns too mncli over some : let your virtues be 
your ornaments, remembrririg life is more than foi)d, and the body 
than raiment. Let your furniture be simple ami cheap. Avoid 
pride, avarice, and luxury Read my ' No Cross, no Crown.' 
Tiier'^ is instruction. Make your conversation with th.e most em- 
inent for wisdom and pietv : and shun all wicked men as you hope 
for the blessing of God and the comfort of your father's living and 
dyinj; pravers. Be sure you speak no evil of any, no, not of the 
meanest ; much less of vour superiors, as magistrates, guardians, 
tutors, teachers, anil elders in Christ. 

" Be no busyb)dies ; meddle not with other fo'k's matters, but 
•when in conscience and duty prest : for it procures trouble, and is 
ill manners, and vprv unseemly to v.ise men. 

" In your fiimilies remember Vhraham. Moses, and Joshua, 
their integrity to the Lord ; and do as you have them for your ex- 
amples 

" Let the fear and service of the Living God be encouraged in 
your houses, and that nlainness, sobriety and moderation in all 
thJn'!;s as lecometli God's chosen people ; and as I advise vou,my 
beloved children, do vou counsel yours. ifGod should give you any. 
ypa. T counsel and command them as my posterity, that thev love 
and serve the Lord God with an upright heart, that he may bless 
you and yours f om generation to generation. 

" \nd as for vou who are likely to he concerned in the govern- 
ment of Pennsvlvania and mv oarts of Rast Jersey, especially the 
first, I do charge vou before the Lord God and his holy angels. that 
yoM be lo \ ly. <lilige!it. and tender, fearing God, loving tlie people, 
an 1 hating civetousness. Let justice have its impartial course, 
and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man 



OF WILLIAM PENW. 125 

against it; for you are not al)ove fhe law. but tlie law aliove you. 
Live therefoie the lives jourselves you vvoulti huve the people live, 
and tiien you have right ami boldness to punish the transgressor. 
Keep upon the square, for God sees vou : therefore do your dutv> 
and be aureyou see with jour own e\es, and heai with your own 
ears. Kntertain no lurclieis, cherish noinfwmers for gain or le- 
venge ; use no tricks ; ily to no devices to support or cover injus- 
tice ; but let your hearts be upright before the Lord, trusting in lain, 
above tlie contrivafices of men, and none shall be able to hurt or 
supplant. 

'' Oh ! the Lord is a strong God, and he can do vvhatsover he 
pleases ; and though men consider it not. it is the Lord that rules 
and over-rules in the kindgdoins of men, and he builds up and 
pulls down. L your father, am tiie man that can say, He that 
trusts in the Lord sliall not be confounded. But God, in due time, 
■will make his enemi<s be at peace with him. 

" If you t!ius behave vourselves, and so become a terror to evil 
doers and a praise to them tl at do well. Gr)d, my God, will be with 
you in wisdoui and a sound mind, and make vou blessed instru- 
Jnents in his hand foi- the settlements of scmie of those tiesolate 
parts of the worh , Vt'liich mv soul desiies aho\e all worldly hon- 
ours aiul riches, bolh for v<mi ihat go and vou that stay ; you that 
govern and vou that are poveined : that in the end you may be 
gathered w ith me t(» the rest of" God. 

" Filially, mv childien, love one another with a true and en* 
deared love, and your dear relations on both sides, and take care 
to preserve tender aflf'Ction in vour children to eacli other, often 
marr;. ins: within fiiemselves, so it be without the hounds forbidden 
in God's law. that so thev mav not, like the foroetting unnatural 
v/orld, grow out of kindred .nd as cold as strangers ; but. as be- 
comes a ti'uly natural and Christian stock, you and yours after 
you may live in the pure and fervent love of God tov\ards one 
anotJier, as becometh brethren in the spiritual and natural re- 
lation. 

" So, my God. that hath blessed me with bis abundant mercies, 
both of tliis and the ot'ier better life, be with you all, guide you by 
his counsel, bless you. and bring vou to his eternal glory ! that 
you may shine, my dear children, in the firmament of Goil's pow- 
er, with the blessed spirits of the just, that celestial family, prais- 
ing and admiiin..': hint, the God and Father of it, for e\er. For 
tliere is no God like unto him : the God of Isaac an<l of Jacob, the 
God of the Prophets, the Apostles, and Martyrs of Jesus in whom 
I live for ever. 

" S(» farewell to mv thrice dearly 1 eloved wife and cliildren ! 

*' Yours, as God pleaseth. in <l ;it which no waters can quench, 
no time forget, nor distance wear away, but remains 
for ever, 

" William Penn. 
" Wormiv^hnrst, 4th ofGfh month, 1(182." 

William Penn, after having written this letter, took an affec- 
tionate leave of bis wife and children, and, accompanied by seve- 
ral friends arrived at Deal. Here he embarked on board the ship 



126 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Welcome, of three hundred tons burthen, Robert Greenaway com- 
mander. The passengers, including himself, were not more than 
a hundred. They wtrf mostly Quakers. 'Ihey were also most 
of them, from Sussex, in which county his house at Worminghurst 
vas seated. While lyiiig in the Downs he wrote a farewell-epis- 
tle, the title of wliich ran thus, *• An Epistle, containing a Saluta- 
tion to all Faithful Friends, a Heproof to the Unfaithful, and a. 
Visitation to the Inquiring in the Land of my Nativity. 

He wrote also a letter to his friend Stephen Crisp, an able and 
upright Minister of the Gospel in his own Society, who had been 
a great sufferer for religion, and for whom he had an extraordina- 
ry regard. He had parted witli him but a few days before. His 
letter, which is well worth copying, was as follows : 
'• Dear Si ephkn Ckisp, 

" My dear and lasting love in the Lord's everlasting Truth 
reaches to thee, with whom is my fellowship in the Gospel of Peace, 
that is more dear and precious to my soul than all the treasures 
and pleasures of this world ; for, when a few years are passed, we 
shall all go the way whence we shall never return: and that we 
may unweariedly serve the Lord in our day and place, and, in the 
end, enjoy a portion with the blessed that are at rest, is the breath- 
ing of my soul ! 

" Stephen ! we know one another, and I need not say much to 
thee ; but this I will say, t!iy parting dwells with me, or rather thy 
love at my parting. How innocent, how tender, How like t le little 
child that has no guile ! The Lord will bless that ground (Penn- 
sylvania) I have also a letter from thee, which comforted me ; 
for many are my trials, yet not more than my supplies from my 
heavenly Father, who-^e glory I seek, and the renown of his blessed 
name. And truly, Stephen, tliere is work enough, and here is 
room to work in. Surely God will come in for a share in this 
planting-work, and that leaven shall leaven the lump in time. I 
do not believe the Lord's providence had run this way toward me, 
but that he has an heavenly end and service in it : so with him I 
leave all, and myself, and thee, and his dear people, and blessed 
name on earth. 

" God Almighty, immortal and eternal, be with us, that in the 
body and out of the body we may be his for ever ! 
*' I am, in the ancient dear fellowship, 

" Thy faithful friend and brother, 

" William Penn." 

On or about the first of September the Welcome sailed ; but 
she had not proceeded far to sea, when the small-pox broke out, 
and this in so virulent a manner, that thirty of the passengers fell 
a sacrifice to it. In this trying situation VVilliam Penn adminis- 
tered to the sick every comfort in his power, both Ijy his peisonal 
attendance and by his spiritual advice. In about six weeks from 
the time of leaving the Downs he came in sight of the American 
coast, and afterwards found himself in the Delaware River. 

In passing up the river, the Dutch and Swedes, now his subjects, 
"who were said to occupy the Territories lately ceded to him, and 
the English, as well as those who had gone the preceding year 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 127 

under Colonel Markham as others who had settled there before, 
jnet and received him wit > equal demonstrations of joy. Those 
of Dutch and Swedish extraction livinj; there at this time were 
estimated at between two and three thousand. At length he 
landed at Newcastle. Here the Dutch had a Court-house. In 
this, the day after his arrival, he called together the people. 
Having taken legal possession of the country, according to du© 
form, in their presence, he made a speech to the old Magistrates, 
in which he explained to them the design «)f his comini>,, the nature 
and end of government, and of that more particularly which he 
came to establish. He then assured all present, that they should 
have the full viijoyment of their rights both as to liberty of con- 
science arid civil freedom. He recommended them to live in 
sobriety, and in peace and amity with each other. Alter this he 
renewed the Magistrates' commissions. 

He now took a joiirnev to N'ew-York, to pay his respects to the 
Duke by visiting liis government and colony. This gave him an 
opportunity of seeing Long Island and the Jerseys. He then 
returned to Newcastle. 

His next movement was to Upland, in order to call the first 
General Assembly. This was a memorable event, and to be dis- 
tinguished by some marked circumstance. He determined there- 
fore to change the name of the place. Turning round to his friend 
Pearson, one of his own Society, who had accompanied him in the 
ship Welcnine. he said, ''Providence has brouglit us here safe. 
Thou hast been tlie companion of my perils. What wilt thou 
that I should call this placer" Pearson said, " Chester, in 
remembrance of the city from whence he came." William Penn 
replied, that it should be called Chester ; and that, when he divid- 
ed the land into counties, he would call one of them by tiie same? 
name also. 

At length the Assenibly met. It consisted of an equal number 
for the Province and for the Territories of all such Freemen as 
chose to attend, according to the sixteenth article of the Frame of 
Government. It chose for its Speaker Nicholas Moore, President 
of the " Free Society of Traders of Pennsylvania." befirespok; 
en of. and then proceeded to business, which occupied three days. 

At this Assembly an Act of Union was passed, annexinn; the 
Territories to the Province, and likewise an Act of Settlement in 
reference to the Frame of Government ; which Frame <»f Govern- 
ment, as it related to the Constitution, was, with certain alter- 
ations, declared to he accepted and confirmed. 

Tl e Dutch Swedes, and foreigners of all descriptions within 
the boundaries of the Province and Territories were then natur- 
alized. 

All the Laws agreed upon in England as belonging to the Frame 
of Government were with some alterations, and with the addition 
of nineteen others, thus making together fifty-nine, passed in 
due form. 

Ainonjr these Laws I shall notice the following. All persons 
who confessed the one almi<rhty and eternal God to he the Crea* 
tor, Upholder, and Ruler of the World, and who held themselves 



128 MEMOIRS OF THE LITE, 

obliged in conscience to live peaceably and justly in society, wer« 
in no ways to be molested for tlieir relijcious | eisiiasion and prac* 
tice, nor to be compelled at any time to frequent any religious 
place or minist-y whatever. All Treasurers, however, Judges, 
Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and all whatsoever in the service 
of the Government, and all members elected to serve in Provin- 
cial Council and General Assembly, and all electors, were to be 
such as professed faith in Jesus Christ, and as had not been con- 
victed of ill fame, or unsober and dishonest conversation, and 
who were one-and-twenty years of age. All children of the age 
of twelve were to he taught some useful trade or skill, to the end 
that none might be idle in the province ; but that tl.e poor might 
work to live, and the rich if they became poor, might not want. 
Servants were not to be kept longer than the time of servitude 
agreed upon, and were to be put in fit equipage at the expiration 
of it. All pleadings, processes and records in Courts of Law 
were to be as short as possible. All fees of Law were to be 
moderate, and to be bung up on tables in the Courts. All persons 
wrongfully imprisoned or prosecuted were to have <louble damages 
against the informer or prosecutor. All fines were to he moder- 
ate. With respect to tlie criminal part of these Laws, one new 
principle was introduced into it. William Penn was of opinion, 
that though the deterring of others from oifences must continue 
to be the great and indeed only end of punishment, yet, in a 
community professing itself Christian, t*ie reformation of the 
ofFend3r was to be inseparab'y connected with it. Hence he 
made but two capital offences ; namely, murder and treason 
against the State : and hence also all prisons were to be consid- 
ered as workshops, where t!ie offenders might be industriously, 
soberly, and morally employed. 

The Assembly having sat three days, as I observed before, 
broke up; but, before they adjourned, they returned their most 
grateful thanks to the Governor. The Swedes also deputed for 
themselves Lacy Cock to return him their tlianks. and to acquaint 
him that they would love, serve, and obey him with all they had, 
declaring it was the best day they had ever seen. 

After the adjournment he prepare*! for a visit to Maryland. On 
his first arrival at Newcastle he had <lispatched two mpssen*2;ers to 
the Lord Baltimore tn " ask bis health, to oft'er kind neighbour- 
hood, and to agree upon a time of meeting, the better to establish 
it." By this time the messengers had returned, from whom it 
appeared that the Lord Baltimore would he glad to see him On 
receiving this information he set out for West River, and at the 
anpointed time reached the place of meeting, where be was very 
kindly received, not only by his host, but by the principal inhabi- 
tants of the province. There the two Governors endeav(mred to 
fix the boundaries between the respective Provinces ; but the win- 
ter season being expected, and there being no appearance of 
speedily determining the matter, after two days spent upon it, 
they appointed to meet again in the spring. William Pean accfu'd- 
ingiy departed. Lord Baltimore had the politeness to accompa- 
ny him several mileS; till he came to the house of one William 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 129 

j;\cha<rcison,v/here lie took his leave of liiin. Anri here it niav he 
observe I, that the nobleman just mentioned, whose name was 
Cliarles, was t!ie soti and heirofCec lius Calvert. Baron uf Balti- 
more, who had obtained the original grant of Maiylauc', and a ho, 
being a Catholic, ha<l peopled it with tliose of his own persuasion. 
Cecilius, however, though he himself and they who emigrateil with, 
him were of thi>s (K'scription, had the liberality to allow Ii!)erty of 
conscience to all who came to settle in his Province; so tluit though 
William Penn is justly entitled to the praise of posterity for 1 av- 
ing erected a colony composed of different denominations of Chris- 
tians, where the laws respecting liberty both civil and religious 
^vcre equally extended to all, and where no particular sect was 
permitted to arrogate to itself peculiar advantages, yet he had not 
the honour, as we see, (however the project with him might have 
been original.) of being the first to realize it 

Having refreshed himself at William Richardson's, he proceed- 
ed to a religious meeting of the Quakers, two miles further on, 
v/hich M'as to be held at the house of Thomas Hooker. Fr-im thence 
he went to Choptank, on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, 
where "• a meeting of Colonels, Magistrates, and persons of divers 
qualities and ranks," had been purposely appointed. The visit 
being over, he returned to Upland, which fiom henceforth I shall 
call Chester. 

The time now arrived when he was to confirm his great Treaty 
with the Indians. His religious principles which led him to t!.e 
practice of the most scrupulous morality, did not permit him to 
look upon the King's patent, or legal possession according to the 
laws of England, as sufficient to establish his right to the country, 
without purchasing it by fair and open bargain of the natives, to 
whom only it properly belong-Ml. He had tlierefore instructed. 
Commissioners, as I mentioned in the preceding chapter, who had 
arrived in America before him, to buy it of the latter, and to make 
with them at the same time a Treaty of eternal Friendship. This 
the Commissioners had done ; and this was the time when, by mu- 
tual agreement between him and the Indian Chiefs, it was to be 
puhlicly ratified. He proceeded therefore, accompanied by his 
friends, consisting of men, women, and young persons of both sex- 
es, to Coaquannoc, the Indian name for tl'e place where Philadel- 
phia now stands. On his arrival there lie found the Sachems and 
their tribes assembling. They were seen in the woods as far as 
tlie eve could carry, and looked frightful both on account of their 
number and their arms. The Quakers are reported to have been 
but a handful in comparison, and t!iese without any weapon, — so 
t^'.^t dismav and terror had come upon them, had they not c(mfid- 
ed in the righteousness of their cause. 

It is much to he regretted, when we have accounts of minor 
Treaties between William Penn and the Indians, that in no '-isto- 
rian T can find an account .f this, though so manv mention it. and 
though all concur in considering it as the most glorious of anv in 
the annals of the world. Tliere are. however, rel.'tions in Indian 
speeches, and tiiiditi )ns in Q.iaker families descended from t'iose 
"who were present on the occasion, from which we may learn some- 

R 



130 MEMOIRS or THE LIFE 

thing concerning it. It appears that, though the parties were te 
assemble at Coaquannoc, the Treaty was made a little higher up, 
at Shackamaxon. Upon this Kensington now stands, the houses 
©f which may be considered as tlie suburbs of Philadelphia. There 
was at Shackamaxon an elm tree of a prodijiicms size. To this 
the leaders on both sides repaired, appoaciting each other under 
its widelv-spreading hranches. William Fenn appeared in his 
usual clothes. He had no crown, sceptre, mace, suord, halberd, 
oranv insignia of eminence. He was distinguished only by wear- 
ing a sky-hlue sash* round his waist, which was made of silk net- 
work, and which was of no larger apparent dimensions than an of- 
jBcer's military sash, anil much like it except in cohuir. On his 
right hand was Colonel Markham, his relation and secretary, and 
on his left his friend Pearson before mentioned ; after whom fol- 
lowed a train of Quakers. Before him were carried various arti- 
cle& of merchandize, which, when they came near the Sachems, 
were spread upon the a;round. He held a roll of parchment, con- 
taining the Confirmation of the Treaty of Purchase ami Amity, in 
his hand. One of the Sachems, who was the Chief of them, then 
put upon his own head a kind of chaplet, in which appeared a 
small horn. This, as among the primitive Eastern nations, and ac- 
cording to Scripture language, was an emblem of kin'rly power j 
and whenever the Chief, who had a right to wear it. put it on, it 
was understood that tlie place was made sacred, and the persons 
of all present inviolable. Upon putting on this horn the Indians 
threw down their bows and arrows, and seated themselves round 
their Chiefs in the form of a half-moon upon the ground. The 
Chief Sachem then announced to William Penn,by means of an 
interpreter, that the Nations were ready to hear him. 

Having been thus called upon, he began. The Great Spirit, he 
gaid, who made him and them, who ruled the Heaven and the 
Earth, and who knew the innermost thoughts of man, knew that 
he and his friends had a hearty desire to live in peace and friend- 
iship with them, and to serve them to the utmost of their power. 
It was not their custom to use hostile weapons against their fel- 
low-creatures, for which reason they had come unarmed. Their 
object was not to do injury, and thus provoke the Great >'pirit,but 
to do good. They were then met on the broad pathway of good 
faith and good will, so that no advantage was to be taken on eitlier 
side, but all was to be openness, brotherhood, and love. After 
these and other words, he unrolled the parchment, and by means 
of the same interpreter conveyed to them, article by article, the 
Conditions of the Purchase, and the Words of the Compact then 
made for their eternal Union. Among other things, they were 
not to be molested in their lawful pursuits even in the territory 
they had alienated, for it was to be common to them and the Eng- 
lish. They were to have the same libei ty to do all things therein 
relating: to the improvement of their groun<ls. and providing sus- 
tenance for their families, which the English had. If any disputes 

• This sash ia now ia the possession of Thcmas K«tt, Esq. of Seetliing-hall, near 
IKojwJch. 



OF WILLIAM PENlf^ 131 

should arise between the two, they should be settled by twelve 
persons, half of whom should be English and half Indians. He 
then paid them for the land, and made them many presents besides 
from the merchandise which had been spread before them, liav- 
ing done this, lie laid tlie roll of parchment on the ground, observ- 
ing again, that the ground should be common to both people. He 
then added, that he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, 
call them Children or Brotliets only; for often Parents were apt 
to whip their children too severtdy, and Brothers sometimes would 
differ : neither would he compare the Friendship between him and 
them to a Chain, for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree 
might fall and break it ; hut he should consider them as the same 
flesli and blood with tJie Christians, and the same as if one man's 
body weie tf» be divided into two parts. He then took up the 
parchment, and presenfetl it to the Sachem who wore the horn ia 
the chaplet. and desired him and the other Sachems to preserve itf 
carefully for three gt-nerations. that their children might know 
what had passed between them just as if he had remained himself 
with them to repeat it. 

That William Penn must have done and said a great deal more 
on this interesting occasion than has now been represented, there 
can be no doubt. What I have advanced maybe depended upon j 
but I am not warranted in going further. It is also to be regret- 
ted, that the speeches of the Iniiians on this memorable day have 
not come down to us. It is only known, that they solemnly pledg- 
ed themselves, according; to their country manner, to live in love 
with William Penn and his children as long as the Sun and Moon 
should endure. — Thus ended this famous Treaty, of which more 
has been said in the way of praise than of any other ever transmit- 
ted to posterity. " This," says Voltaire, " was the only Treaty 
between those people and the Christians that was not ratified by 

an oath, and that was never broken." " William Penn thought 

it right," says the Abbe Raynal, to " obtain an additional right by 
a fair and open purchase from the aborigines ; and thus he signal- 
ized his arrival by an act of equity which made his person and 
principles equally beloved. Here it is the mind rests with pleas- 
ure upon modern history, and feels some kind of compensation 
for the disgust, melancholy, and horror, which the whole of it, but 
particularly that of the European settlements in America, inspires." 

. Noble, in his Continuati(m of Granger, says, "he occupied his 

domains by actual bargain and sale with the Indians. This fact 
does him infinite honour, as no blood was shed, and tl^ Christian 
and the Barbarian met as brothers. Penn has thus taught us to 
respect the lives and properties of tlie most unenlightened nations." 

•' Being now returned, says Robert Proud, in his History of 

Pennsylvania, "from Maryland to Coaquannoc, he purchased 
lands of tlie Indians, whom he treated with great justice and sin- 
cere kitidness. It was at this time when he first entered per- 
sonally into that fiiendship with thesn, which ever afterwards con- 
tinued between them, and whic'i for the space of more than seven- 
ty years was never interrupted, or so long as the Quakers retain- 
ed power in the Government. His conduct in general to these 



132 M2M0rRS OF THE LIFE 

people was SO engaging, his justice in particular so conspicuotiSy 
a id the counsel and auvice whicii he gave tliem were so evidently 
for their advantage, that he hecame therehy very much endeared 
to tliein ; and the sense tliereot made such deep impressions on 
tiieir understandings, that his name and memory will scarcely ev- 
er be effaced while they continue a peojile*." 

M'ter the Treaty he went up the Delaware, a few miles, to see 
the mansion which Colonel Vlarkham had been preparing for him. 
It w .8 erected, but not finished. The manor, on vvhicli it stood, 
w.is beautifully situated, being on the banks of the Delaware over 
against the present Burlington, and onlv a few miles below the 
falls of Trenton. It was a treble island, the Delaware running 
three times round it. Tlie mansion was built of brick, and was 
large and commodious. There was a spacio ;3 hall in it. intended 
as a hall of aiulience for the Sovereigns of the soil. Reserving 
this for his own residence, he gave it the name of Pennsbury. 

From h'enn->bury he returned to Chester. Having now fairly 
purchased the land of the natives, he ordered a regular survey of 
it. Tlris was performed by Thomas Holme, who had come out as 
Surveyor General of the Province. During the survey he pitched 
\ipon v'oaquannoc as the most noble and commodious place for 
liis new city. It was situated between the rivers Schuylkill and 
Delaware, and therefore bounded by them on two sides, and on a 
third by their confluence. 'I'he junction of two such rivers and 
botit of them navigable, the great width and depth of the latter so 
admirably calculated for commerce, the existence of a stratum of 
brick earth on the spot. im-Mense quarries of building stone in the 
neii^hbour'iood.—- these and other circumstances determined him 
in t'te c!u)ice of it. it happene*!, however, that it was then in the 
possession of the Swedes ; but the latter, on application being 
made to them, cheerfully exchanged it for land in anotiier quarter. 

Having now determined upon the site, and afterw'ards upon the 
plan of the city, he instructed i'homas Hohne to make a map of 
it, in which the streets were to be laid out as they were to be af- 
terwards built. There were to be two large streets, the one front- 
ing the Delaware on the east, and the other t!e Schuylkill on the 
west, of a mile in length. A third to he called Hi^h Street, of 
one hundred feet broad, was to run directly throuj;h the middle of 
the city so as to communicate with tiie streets now mentioned at 
ri2;ht angles ; that is. it was to run through the middle from river 
to river, or from east to west. A fourth of the same breadth, to 
be called 8road Street, was to run through the middle also, but to 

• The ^reat elm tree, under wliicli fliis Treaty wac made, became celebrated 
from tliis Hay. When in the American war the British Crnerai Simcoe v\as quar- 
tered at Kensinjfton, he so respectfd it, that when his soldiers v/ere cutting down 
every tree for fire-wood, he placed a centiuel under if. that not a branch of it 
misfht be touched. The year before last it was blown down, when its trunk was 
split into wood, and cups and other .irticles were made of it. to be kept as memo- 
Tialp of it. As to the roll of parchment contai in^ the Irrafy it was shown by 
the Mingocs, ahawajiescj ajid other Indians to Governor Keith, at a Conierence 
in 1722. 



OF WILLIAM PENW. 13S 

intersect High Street at riglit angles, or to run from north to south. 
Eiglit streets, fi'ty feet wide, were to be I'uilt parallel to High 
Stieet, that is, from nvcr to river ; and twenty, of the like width, 
parallel to Broad Sti eet, that is, to cross the former from side to 
side. 'I'he Htreets running from east to west were to be named 
according to their numerical order, such as First, Second, and 
T.iird Street, and those from north to south according to the 
wooes of the country, such as Vine, Spruce, Pine, Sassafras, Ce- 
dar, and others. There was to be, h(twever, a square often acres 
ill the middle of the city, each corner of which was to be reserved 
for public offices. There was to be also in each quaiter of it a 
square of eight acres, to be used by the citizens in like manner as 
Aloorfields in London. The city having been thus planned, he 
gav it a name, which he bad Jong reserved for it, namely, Phila- 
delphia, in token of that principle of brotherly lovr, vpun which 
he had come to tresf parts ; ivhich he hnd shou-n to Hutch, Swedes, 
Indians^ and others olike ; and which he ivished mi^ht for ever 
characterize his new doriiinimis 

Scarcely was this plan determined upon, when, late as the 
season was, some of the settlers began to build, and this with such 
rapidity, bein;*; assisted by the Swedes, that several bouses were 
erected in this \ ear. He himself was employed in the mean 
while with Thomas Holme in finisbinj: the survey of his grants and 
purchases : the rt'Sii't of whrch was, that be dividt d the Province 
and Territories, eiich into three coiinties. The Province contain- 
ed tliose of Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester ; the first .«io named 
from the city, w hich was tl en building ; the second from Buck- 
inghamshire in England, which was tie land of his ancestors; 
and the third from the promise before mentioned \> hich be had 
riade to liis friend Pearson. The Territories contained those of 
Newcastle, Kent, aTid Sussex ; the latter of which be so named 
out oi' respect to his wife's family, Su>sex in England having been 
tlie county of their nativity for generations. 

From the laiger he proceeded to the iiifeiior divisions, employ- 
ed himself in marking out townships, and laving out lots. And 
ht re he did not forget his veneia! le fiiend and companion in the 
11 inistry, Ge(»r<^e Fox. fcr wln'in as a small testimony of respect 
he reserved an allotment of a thousand acres. The l\(;ei] of grant 
for this land is extant, as well as a will made by George Fox prior 
to that, which w as proved in Doctors' Commons, in which be de- 
\i.«pd the said l;trd to .John I<«!use, Th!.ii as Lower, and Daniel 
Abrahams, and tlieir children, to be equally divided among them ; 
reserving however six acres for a mev tin<'--house. a school-house, 
and a burying-plr.ce for Friends, and also ten acres for a close 
to put their horses in while at me-'ting, that they might not be lost, 
in the woods;. 

There are two letters written by "William Penn. while occupied 
in the manner I have m'-nti'sned. fcot'^ dated from Chester, extracts 
fiom wisich may not be unacceptahlc to the reader. In the first 
of these he expresses himself thus : 

" I bless t e Lorfl I am very well, and much satisfied with my 
place and portion ; yet busy enough, having much to do to please 



iS4 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

all, and yet to have an eye to those that are not here to please 
themselves. 

" I have been at New York, Long Island, East Jersey, and 
Maryland, in which I have l»ad good and eminent service for the 
Lord. 

" I am now casting the country into townships for large lots of 
land. 1 have held an Assembly, in which many good laws are 
passed. We could not stay safely till t'le spring for a Government. 
1 have annexed the Territories lately obtained to the Province, 
and passed a general naturalization for sfrangers ; which bath 
much pleased the people. \s to outward things, we are satis- 
fied ; the land good, the air clear and sweet, the springs plentiful, 
and provision jood and easy to come at ; an innumerable quantity 
of wild fowl and fish : in fine, here is what an Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob would be well contented with ; and service enough for 
God, for the fields are here white for harvest. O. bow sweet is 
the quiet of these parts, treed from the anxious and troublesome 
solicitations, hurries, and perplexities of woeful Kurope !" 

In the other letter, which was written to a person who had un- 
generously and unduly reflected upon him, we see the care, anxie- 
ty, and vigilance, which he manifested in his new station, his dis- 
interested motives for seeking it, and the humility of his mind 
when he had obtained it. '• Keep," says he, " thy place. I am in 
mine. I am not sitting down in a greatness which I have denied. 
I am day and night spending my life, my time, my money, and 
am not sixpence enriched by this greatness, (costs in getting, set- 
tling, transportation, and maintenance, now in a public manner 
but at my own charge, duly considered,) to say nothing of my 
hazard, and the distance I am from a considerable estate, and, 
which is more, from my dear wife and poor duldren. 

" Well ; the Lord is a God of righteous judgment. Had I in- 
deed sought greatness, I h;ul staid at home, where the difference 
between what I am here and what was offered and I could have 

been there in power and Vv^ealth, is as wide as the places are. • 

No : I came for the Lord's sake : and therefore have I stood to 
this day, well, and diligent, and successful, blessed be his power ! 
Nor shall I trouble myself to tell thee what I am to the people of 
this place in travails, watchin<j;s, spendings, and to my servants 
every way freely, not like a selfish man. I have many witnesses. 
Tox-onclude : It is now in Friend's hands. Through my travail, 
faith, and patience, it came. If Friends here keep to God in the 
justice, mercy, equity, and fear of the Lord, their enemies will be 
their footstool : if not, tlieir heirs, and my heirs too, will loose 
all. and desolation will follow. But, blessed be the Lord, we are 
well, and live in the dear love of God, and the fellov/ship of his 
tender heavenly Spirit ; and our faith *is for ourselves and one 
another, that the Lord will be with us a King and Counsellor 
for ever. 

" Thy ancient though grieved Friend. 

" William Peiix." 

After this, a number of vessels arrived in the Delaware from 
Somersetshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Wales and Ireland. Out of 



OP WILLIAM PEMN. 135 

the twenty-three which sailed from thence, not one was lost. 
They brought with tliem altogether more than two thousand souls. 
These were mostly Quakers, who had bougiit allotments, and had 
come to occupy them. They had left their country, as we learn 
from *' Tlie Planter's Speech to his Neighbours" published at this 
time, " that they might lead a life quiet and peaceable, free ironi 
the vexations they had experienced, and during which they might 
worship the great Creator in their own way ; that here, as on a 
virgin Elyslan shore, they might be freed from the sight of odious 
and infectious- examples, and of the wickedness and profligacy of 
the European world ; that as trees were transplanted from one 
soil to another to make ^hem better bearers, so here, under the 
protection of God, they might the better bring forth fruit to their 
own edification and his glory ; and lastly, t'lat by affording an 
example of holy and pious living thev might more eflfectually 
impress the Heathen around them, and thus bi ing tliem from dark- 
ness to light, to that pure and perfect light wl)ich emanated from 
the Gospel ot Jesus Ciirist." 

When the vessels arrived, the Swedes verv kindly volunteered 
their services in unloading them ; and as they arrived not all at 
once, but in succession, the goods were more speedily brought on 
shore, and the passengers more easily accommodated and dispos- 
ed of. The latter, as they were landed, ciistributf-d themselves 
through the country, some going one wav and some another, some 
settling within the Territories, others within tlie Province, accord- 
ing as their lots or as their friends and expectations lay. Their 
number being altou,ether great, they appeared, when thus distri- 
buted, to occupy a large portion of land. There were people ap- 
parently all the way, though thinly scattered, from the Fails of 
Trenton to Chester. Taking in the Dutch and Swedes, and those 
who had gone out with Co'onel Markham and William Penn, and 
the new comers just mentioned, and includinji' men, women, and 
children, their total number did not tail short of six thousand per- 
sons ; so that William Penn may be said to have raised a col- 
ony at once in his new dom'nions. 

Many of those who had arrived being of a sober cast, and having 
property, had brought out with them houses in frame, tools, imple- 
ments, and furniture, and a'so food and raiment sufficient to last 
them for some time after their arrival. All such experienced the 
benefit of their prudence. Others were not so v\ell provided; 
but coming s')me weeks before the winter began, they were enabled 
to get through it with more comfort than could have been expect- 
ed, as it relat-^'d to their habitations. Tliey iised the short oppor- 
tunity tliey had in cuttinu down wood, and woikinoit, and putting 
it foiiether, so as to construct tcmp()rary huts. William Penn fur- 
nished them witli agpner;tl plan for tl ese. Thev were to be rath- 
er better than thirty feet long, and ei!;hteen wide. There was to 
be a partition in the middle, so that each was to be divided into 
two equal parts. When the slieil uas up. it was to be covered 
and defended on the outside by chi' hoards. It was to be lined 
also in the inside by the s;ime. Tlie intervening space between 
the external covering and inside lining was to be filled with earth> 



15§ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

to keep out the cold and frost. The ground floor M^as to be made 
of claj, and tiie upper or loft of wood. The lattei- was to he di- 
vided or not, accordini^ to the wants of the family. As t(» the 
roof it was to be of clapboard also. Others arrived too late in 
the season to be able to raise themselves habitations. These suf- 
fered more or le*s from the severity of the winter. Some of them 
were kindly taken in by the Swedes and otliers ; but the rest were 
oblii;;ed to betake themselves to the bank of the river, where the 
city was buildin*. This standing high, and being dry. they dug 
large holes iti it, and in these they lived, riiese dwelling places 
went by the name of the Cfives from this period. 

With respect to provisions, they fared better, all of them, than 
might have been expected in a country which all around, except 
just upon the shore, was an entire wilderness. Ys^t in this situa- 
tion they met with occasional support. The wild pigeons flew 
about in such numbers, that the air was sometimes darkened hy 
them ; and, flying low, they were sometimes knocked down in 
great numbers by those who had no other means of taking them. 
The supply from these was sometimes so great, that they could 
not consume them while fresh : they therefore salted the overplus. 
The Indians also were remarkably kind to them. They hunted 
for them frequently, doing their utmost to feed them. -They con- 
sidered thein all as the children of Onas* ; and, looking upon him 
ever since the Great Treaty as their own Father also, they treated 
them as Brothers. 

William Penn having divided the land into Counties, as 1 have 
just mentioned, appointed Sheriffs to each ; soon after which he 
issued v/rits for the election of members both to sit in Council 
and General Assembly, according to the Cotis*^itution, as early as 
possible in the spring. One of these writs has been preserved. 
It runs as follows -• 

" William Penn. Proprietary Governor ofthe Province of Penn- 
svlvania and the Territories thereunto belonging : 

" T do hereby, in the King's name, empower and require thee to 
summon all the Freeholders in thy bailiwick to meet on the twen- 
tieth day of the next month at the Falls upon Delaware River, 
and that they then and there elect and choose out of themselves 
twelve persons of most note for wisdom and integrity, to serve as 
their Delejiates in the Provincial Council to he held at Philadel- 
phia the tenth day ofthe fiist month (March) next, that they may- 
all personallv appear at an Assembly at the place aforesaid, ac- 
cording to the contents of my Charter of Liberties, of which thou 
art to make me a true'and faithful return. 

'• Given at Philadelphia •— month — 1689. 
« To Richard Nobl<% Hi b She»iffof the county of Bucks." 

The other High Sheriffs, to whom the other writs were directed, 
were John Test for Philadelphia. Thomas Usher for Chester. Fid- 
mund Cantwell for Newcastle, Peter Bowcomb for Kent, and John 
Vines for Sussex. 

* Onas was the name for Pen in the Indian language» 



«F ■WILLIAM PENN. 137 



CHAPTER XIX. 



A. 1683 — Members returned for fha Province and Territories'-^ 
List of those sant to the Jissembly— 'meets his Council — and after- 
wards the Assembly — which sit twenlu-two days — Business done 
there — grants a new Charter — first judicial proceedings — Trial 
•of Vickering and others — JVames of the first Juries- — great pro" 
^ress in the building of Philadelphia — and in agriculture by the 
Settlers — their manner of living as described by R. Tewns-^nd 
— goes on a journey of discovery into the interior of Pennsylva- 
nia— sends the JVatiiral History of it to " The free Society »f 
Traders'*^ — Copy of his Letter on that subject'— fails in settling 
a dispute with the Lord Baltimore — sends his Case to the Lords^ 
Committee of Plantations^ in England. 

So«n after the new year had begun, an infant was born of the 
family of Key. His mother had been brought-to-bed in her habi- 
tation in one of the Caves. He was the first-born child of English 
parents in the Colony. This being a new event, the Governor re* 
corded it by making him a present of a lot of land. Key lived af- 
terwards to a great age, but he never lost the name of first-born to 
the day of his death. 

The time being now at hand, as specified in the writs which had 
been issut'd, for the organisation of the Legislative Bodies, those 
who had been chosen by the Freeholders began to move, some 
from their temporary huts and others from their houses to the 
place of meeting. It appears that only twelve persons had been 
returned out of each of the six counties, three of these for the Coun- 
cil and nine for the Assembly. Thus the Council consisted onlj 
of eighteen and the Assembly of fifty-four, making together seven- 
ty-two. It will be proper to observe here, that, after the division 
of the land into counties, the Province still continued to be called 
the Province, but the Territories usually went by the nanre of the 
Three lower Counties of the Delaware. 

We have not a perfect list of those who composed the first Coun* 
cil. Sixteen, however, of their names have been preserved. 
Among these were Colonel Markham, the Governor's relation and 
secretary; Thomas Holme, his surveyor-general of the colony; 
and Lacy Cock, the Swede before mentioned, who had been de- 
puted by his countrymen to congratulate the Governor on his ar« 
rival, and to acquaint him, after the first Assembly at Chester, 
that they would love, serve and obey him with all they had. 

With respect to the names of the first Assembly, we have them, 
complete. W. Yardley, S. Darke, R. Lucas, N. Walne, J. Wood, 
J. Clowes, T. Fitzwater, R. Hall, and J. Boyden, were elected for 
Bucks : J. Longhurst, J. Hart, W. King, A. Binkson, J. Moon, T. 
Wynne, G.Jones, W. Warner, and S. Swanson, for Philadelphia: 
J. Hoskins, R. Wade, G. Wood, J. Blunston, D. Rochford, T. 
Bracv, J. Bezer, J. Har«ling, and J. Phipps, for Chester : J. Biggs, 
S. Irons, T. Ilassold, J. Curtis. R. B«dwell. W. Windsmor^.J. 



\ 



198 Memoirs of the life 

Brinkloe, D. Brown, and B. Bishop, for Kent : J. Cann, J. Darby, 
V. Hollings»vorth. G. Herman, J. Dehoaef,J. Williams, VV. Guest, 
P. Alric, and H. Williams, for Newcastle : and L. Watson, A. 
Draper. W. Futcher, H. Bowman, A. Moleston, J. Hill,R. Bracy, 
J. Kipsliaven, and C. Verhoof, for Sussex. 

The Freeholders, when thev returned the above and no others, 
were sensible that, according to the letter of the Constitution, 
they hail returned a far less number to the legislative bodies thaa 
they ought, having; elected only seventy-two persons in all, where- 
as the f'ouncil itself S''ould tiave consisted of that number. It was 
impossible, however, in the then state of things, that they could 
have done otherwise. They gave therefore their reasons in wnt- 
ing on the Sheriffs' returns for the deficiency ; and they added 
that, though the number was less than tlie law required, they con- 
sidered those who had been elected as possessing the power of all 
the Freemen, both of the Province and Territories. They peti- 
tioned the Governor also, before the members met in their official 
capacities, that this their non-compliance with the Constitution to 
its full extent might not deprive them of the benefit of their Char- 
ter. To this he replied, '• that they might amend, alter, or add, 
for the public good ; and that he was ready to settle such founda- 
tions with them, as might be for their happiness, according to the 
powers vested in him." 

These preliminaries having been adjusted, he met his Council 
on the tenth of March. 

On the twelfth he met the Assembly. This latter body chose for 
its Speaker Thomas Wynne, and then proceeded to business. At 
this and subsequent sittings till the twentieth much work was gone 
through. Several bills were framed and passed. Outlines also 
were agreed upon for the amendment of the old Charter. A Seal 
also was established for each county. To Philadelphia was given 
an anchor, to Bucks a tree and vine, to Chester a plough, to New- 
castle a cassia, to Kent three ears of Indian corn, and to Sussex a 
■yvbeat-sheaf. 

At a Council held on the twentieth, the Speaker and two mem- 
bers of the Assembly attending with certain bills which had been 
sent to them, the Governor and Council desired a conference with 
the whole House and Freemen about the Charter. They attended 
accordingly. He then asked tliem explicitly, whether they chose 
to have the old or a new Charter. They unanimously requested a 
new one, with such amendments as had already heen agreed upon. 
Upon this he made a short speech to them, in which he signified his 
assent to their request : distinguishins;, however, between their du- 
ty and his own willingness to oblige them, and hoping that both 
would be found consistent with each other and reconcileable on th» 
present occasion. 

On the twenty-first the Assembly sent Griffith Jones and Thom- 
as Fitzwater to thank him for his speech, and to signify their grate- 
ful acceptance of his offer. After this a Committee of each House 
was appointed to draw up a new Charter. 

At a Council held on the thirtieth, the Governor having read, ap- 
proved, signed; and sealed the Charter, which the Committees had 



OF WILLIAM PENN-. fSQ^ 

drawn up, presented it in due form to James Harrison, Thomas 
Wjnne, and another member, who attended in behalf of the As- 
sembly and Freemen. These, on receiving if., returned the old 
one into his hands with the heartj thanks of the whole House. By 
tliis Charter the Provincial Council was to consist of eighteen per- 
sons, three from each county, and the Assembly of thirty -six, men 
of most note for virtue, wisdom and ability ; by whom, with the 
Governor, all laws were to be made, officers chosen, and public 
affairs transacted in the manner expressed therein. All the laws, 
however, were still to be prepared by the Governor and Council, 
and the number of Asseu)blymen were to be increased at their 
pleasure. This was the last business transacted at this session, 
which had continued twenty -two davs. 

Having spoken of the first Legislative, I shall notice the first 
Judicial proceedings. 

The first Grand Jury was summoned in the month of March up- 
on one Pickering and others, persons of bad character, who had 
stolen out among the respectable settlers in their passage from. 
England, in onler to make an advantage of the distress and con- 
fusion of a new colony. Those who composed it were Thomas 
Lloyd (foreman,) E. Flower, R. Wood, J.Harding, J.Hill, E. 
Louft', J. Boyden, N. Walne, J. James, J. Vanborson, R. Hall, V. 
Hollingsworth, A. Draper, J. Louff", J. Wale, S. Darke, J. Parsons, 
J. Blunston, T. Fitzwater, AV. Guest, J. Curtis, R. Lucas, H. 
Jones, and C. Pusey. 

Bills having been found by these, a petty Jury was empanneled 
and attested. Itconsisterl of J. Claypoole (foreman), R. Turner, 
R. Ewer, A, Binkson, J. Barnes, J. Fisher, D. Rochford, W. How- 
ell, W. King, B. Whitehead, T. Rose, and D. Bjeintnell. 

The trial then came on. It was held before tin' Governor and 
Counc'l, who sat as a Court of Justice. The charge against the 
prisoners was, that tliey had coined and stamped silver in the 
form of fepanish pieces vvitli more alloy of copper than t'le law al- 
lowed. They were found guilty. The sentence was, that Pick- 
ering, as principal, should for this high misdemeanour make full 
satisfaction, in good and current pay, to all persons who should 
within the space of one month bring in any of his false, base, and 
counterfeit coin (vvliicli was to be called in the next day by procla- 
niatiim), according to tlieir respective proportions; and that the 
money brought in should be melted down before it was returned 
to him ; and that he should pay a fine of forty pounds towards the 
building of a Court-house, stand committed till the same was paid, 
and aftcrwanis find security for his good behaviour. 

The Legislative Assembly being over, and the members return- 
ed to their habitations, William Penn directed his attention to his 
new city. By this time Philadelphia had begun to rise o'lt of the 
ground. The first house finished there was built by George Guest. 
The owner of it used it a.s a tavern, a good speculation under ex- 
isting circumstances, and called it the Blue Anchor. So..n after 
many small houses were erected. Larger and more commodious 
followed, and tliis so rapidly, that, including ordinary and good 
houses, not less than a hundred were found in their proper sta* 



J(40 mitOIRS or TlfE LI7E 

tions by the end of the present year. William Penn, indeed^ 
seems to have had a mind capat)le of directing its energies use- 
fully to every department of a new colony, whether in that of 
agriculture, building, government or religion. His plan for the 
city of Philadelphia has been considered as the work of a provi- 
dent and great architect ; and to that sleepless spirit of vigilance, 
that spirit which he possessed in the highest degree, of constantly 
overlooking and forwarding; wliatever he had begun, it was to be as- 
cribed that so great a progress had been made in the buildings in sa 
short a time. Dean?rideaux,in his Connection of the History of the 
Old and New Testament, gives a plan or model of the city of ancient 
Babylon, after whi.h he speaks thus : "• Much according to this 
model '^ath William Penn, the Quaker, laid out the gr(»und for hi* 
city of Philadelp'-ia, in Pennsylvania ; a-ul were it all built ac- 
cording to that design, it would be the fairest and best city in all 
America, and not much behind any other in the whole world." 

The settlers too had by this time made a visible improvement irt 
some of their allotments. Portions of these had not only in many 
instances been cleared, but put into cultivation. Most of those who 
arrived in the first ships had been enabled in consequence of the 
openness of the winter for a longer period tlian usual, to put their 
winter corn into the ground. Others had since sown here and 
there patches of barley. A letter v/ritten by Richard Townsend, 
■who went out with William Penn, is extant, fro-n which we may 
collect something as to the wav in which they went on, as well as 
to their subsequent gradual progress. 

" After our arrival," says he, " we found it a wilderness. The 
chief inhabitants were Indians, and some Swedes, who received us 
in a friendly manner ; and though there was a great number of us, 
the good hand of Providence was seen in a particular manner, in 
that provisions were found for us by the Swedes and Indians at 
very reasonable rates, as well as brought from divers other parts- 
that were inhabited before. 

" After some time I set up a mill on Chester Creek, which I 
brought ready framed from London, which served for grinding of 
corn and sawing of boards, and was of great use to us. Besides, 
with Joshua Tittery, I made a net, and caught great quantities of 
fish, which supplied ourselves and many others ; so that, notwith- 
standing it was thought near three thousand persons came in the 
first year, w^e wei-e so providentiallv provided for, that we could 
buy a deer for about two shillings, and a large turkey for about a 
shilling, and Indian corn for about two shillings and sixpence per 
bushel. 

" And as our worthy proprietor treated the Indians with extra- 
ordinary humanity, they became very civil and loving to us, and 
brought us in abundance of venison. As in other countiies the 
Indians were exasperated by hard treatment, which hath been the 
fmmdation of much bloodshed, so the contrary treatment here hath 
produced their love and aifection. 

*' After our arrival there came in about twenty families from 
High and Low Germany of religious good people, who settled 
about six miles from Philadelphia, and called the place German 



OF WILtlAM PENN. 141 

"Joww.—— -About the time when German Town was laid out, f 
settled upon my tract of land, which 1 had bought ot the proprie- 
tor in England, about a mile from thence, where I set up a house 
and corn-millj which was very useful to the country for sevi'ral 
miles round ; but there not being plenty of horses, people general- 
ly brought their corn on their backs many miles. 1 remember one 
man had a bull so gentle, that he used to bring his corn on- hira in- 
stead of a horse. 

" Being now settled within six or seven miles of Philadelphia,. 
"U'here I left the principal body of Friends together with the chief 
place of provisions, flesh-meat was very scarce with me for some 
time, of which I found the want. I remember I was once supplied 
by a particular instance of Providence in the following manner : 

" As I was in my meadow mowing grass, a youngdeei cameancf 
looked on me. I continued mowing, and the deer in the same at- 
tention to me. 1 then laid down my scythe and went towards 
him ; upon which he ran o(f a small distance. 1 went to my work 
again, and the deer continued looking on me ; so that several timeg. 
I left my work to go towards him : but he still kept himself at a 
distance. At last, as I was going towards liim, and he looking on. 
me did not mind his steps, be ran forcibly against the trunk of ai 
tree, and stunned himself so much that he fell ; upon which I ran 
forward, and getting upon him held him by the legs. After a greafr 
struggle, in which 1 had almost tired him out, and rendered hiitt 
lifeless, I threw him on my shoulders, holding him fast by the legs, 
and with some difficulty, on account of his fresh struggling, carri- 
ed him home, about a quarter of a mile, to my hejuse ; where, by 
the assistance «f a neighbour, who happened to be there, and who 
killed him for me, he proved very serviceable to my family. I 
could relate several other acts of Providence of this kind, but omit 
them for brevity. 

" As people began to spread, and to improve their lands, the 
country became more fruitful, so that th.ose who came after ugM 
were plentifully supplied ; and with what we abounded we began^ 
a small trade abroad ; and as Philadelphia increased, vessels were 
built, and many employed. Both country and trade have been 
•wonderfully increasing to this day ; so that, from a wildei'ness, the 
Lord, by his good hand of Providence, hath made it a fruitful land ; 
on which things to look back and observe all the steps would ex- 
ceed my present purpose. Yet, being now in the eighty-fourth 
year of my age, and having been in this country near forty-six 
years, and mv memory being pretty clear concerning the rise and 
progress of tlie Province, I can do no less than return praises to 
the Almighty, when I look hack and consider his bountiful hand, 
not only in temporals, but in the great increase of our religious 
meetings, wherein he hath many times manifested his great loving- 
kindness in reaching and convincing many persons of the princi- 
ples of Truth : and those who were already convinced, and who 
continued faithful, were not only bles'^ed with plenty of the fruits' 
of the earth, but also with the dew of Heaven-" 

William Penn having now dispatched the public businoss of the 
colony, as far as his presence was necessary, and having superin-- 



142 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

tended the works in his new city, went on a journey of discovery 
into the Province. He had, indeed, already become acquainted 
with its boundaries and extent, as weil as with other particulars, 
relating to it, in consequence of the survey of Tliomas Holme; but 
he had now an object of a more interesting nature in view. He 
wished to be better acquainted with the inhabitants of the soil ; to 
know something more distinctly of their language, genius, cliarac- 
ter, and customs: he wished also to know the natural history of 
the country, its minerals, its woods, and other produce ; its ani- 
mals both of the land and the water, its climate, and the like. 
With this view he undertook the journey in question. That he 
kept a journal of it, as he did of his tour into Holland and Germa- 
nv, there can be no doubt ; but I have never yet learnt where it is. 
Fortunately, however, the contents of it are not lost ; for on his 
return to Pennsbury he wrote a letter to •' The Free Society of 
Traders of Pennsylvania,-' dated August the sixteenth, in which 
he communicated to the committee the result of his discoveries. 
This letter, therefore, I must give in lieu of the journal. It will 
answer the same end. 1 must give it also, because it notices the 
progress of the colony in some particulars, which, knowing they 
were contained in it, I have omitted to mention, tliat I might avoid 
repetition. It shows too tlie author to have been a man of exten- 
sive knowledge, to have possessed a mind vigilant as to every 
thing that passed, to have had great discernment and penetration, to 
have been ingenious, bold, and solid in conjecture, capable of deep 
research, and fertile in the adaptation of discoveries to a useful end. 
" My kind Friends, 

" The kindness of yours by the ship Thomas and Ann doth much 
oblige me ; for by it I perceive the interest you take in my health 
and reputation, and in the prosperous beginning of this Province, 
which you are so kind as to think may much depend upon them. 
In return of which I have sent you a long letter, and yet contain- 
ing as brief an account of myself and the aftairsof this Province as 
I have been able to make. 

" In the first place, I take notice of the news you sent me, where*- 
by I find some persons have had so little wit, and so much malice, 
as to report my deatli ; and, to mend the matter, dead a Jesuit too. 
One might have reasonably liopcd that this distance, like death, 
would have been a protection against spite and envy ; and indeed 
absence being a kind of death, ought alike to secure the name of 
the absent as of the dead, because they are equally unable as such 
to defend themselves : but they who intend mischief do not use 
to follow good rules to effect it. However, to the great sorrow and 
shame of the inventors, I am still alive and nn Jesuit ^ and, I 
thank God, very well. And without injustice to the authors of 
tliis, I may venture to infer, that they who wilfully and f;ilsely re- 
port, would have been glad it had been so. But I perceive many 
frivolous and idle stories have been invented since my departure 
from England, which perhaps at this time are no more alive than I 
am dead. 

" But if I have been unkindly used by some I left behind me, l 
ifound love and respect enough where I came ; an universal kind 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 143 

welcome, every sort in their way. For, here are some of several 
nations, as well as divers judgments : nor were the natives want- 
ing in tliis; for their Kings, Queens, and great men, both visited 
and presented me, to whom I made suitable returns. 

'' For the Province, the general condition of it take as fol- 
io weth : 

"1. The country itself, its soil, air, water, seasons, and pro- 
<luce, both natural and artificial, are not to be despised. The land 
containeth divers sorts of earth, as sand, yellow and black, poor 
and rich ; also gravel, both loamy and dusty ; and in some places a 
fast fat earth, like that of our best vales in England, especially by 
inland brooks and rivers : God in liis wisdom having ordered it 
so, that the advantages of the country are divided ; the back lands 
being generally three to one richer than those that lie by naviga- 
ble rivers. We have much of another soil, and that is a black ha- 
zel mould upon a stony or rocky bottom. 

*' 2. The air is sweet and clear, and the heavens serene, like the 
south parts of France, rarely overcast ; and as the woods come by 
numbers of people to be more cleared, that itself will refine. 

" 3. The waters are generally good ; for the rivers and brooks 
have mostly gravel and stony bottoms, and in number hardly cred- 
ible. We have also mineral waters, which operate in the same 
manner with those of Barnet and North Hall, not two miles from 
Philadelphia. 

" 4. For the seasons of the year, having by God's goodness 
now lived over the coldest and hottest that the oldest liver in the 
Province can remember, 1 can say something to an English un- 
derstanding. 

" First of the fall, for then I came in. I found it from the twen- 
ty-fourth of October to the beginning of December, as we have it 
usually in England in September, or rather like an English mild 
spring. From December to the beginning of the month called 
March we had sharp frosty weather : not foul, thick, black weath- 
er, as our north-east winds bring with them in England, but a sky 
as clear as in the summer and the air dry. cold, piercing and hun- 
gry ; yet I remember not that I wore more clothes than in England. 
The reason of this cold is given from the gteat lakes, which are 
fed by the fountains of Canada. The winter before was as mild, 
scarce any ice at all, while this for a few days froze up our great 
river Delaware. From that month to the month called June wc 
enjoyed a sweet spring ; no gusts, hut gentle showers and a fine 
sky. Yet this I observe, that the winds here, as t!)ere, are more 
inconstant, spring and fall, upon that turn of nature, than in sum- 
mer or winter. From thence to this present month, August, which 
endeth the summer, commonly speaking, we have extraordinary 
heats, yet mitigated sometimes by cool breezes. The wind that 
ruleth the summer season is the south-west : but spring, fall, and 
winter, it is rare to want the north-western seven davs together. 
And whatever mists, fogs, or vapours foul the heavens by easterly 
or southerly winds, in two hours time are blown away j the one is 
followed by the other : a remedy that seems to have a peculiar 
providence in it to the iahabitauts, the multitude of trees yei 



144 tlEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

standing being liable to retain mists and vapours, and yet not on« 
quarter so thick as I expected. 

*■• 5. The natural produce of the country, of eiietables, is trees, 
fruits, plants, rlovvers. The trees of most note are the black wal- 
nut, cedar, cypress, chesnut, poplar, gum-wood, hickory, sassa- 
fras, ash, beech, and oak of divers sorts, a« red, white and black; 
Spanish chesnut and s»vamp,the niostdurable of all ; of all which 
there is plenty for t'l*' use of man. 

" The fruits I find in the woods are the white and black mulber- 
ry, chesnut. walnut, plums, strawberries, cranberries, hurtleber- 
ries. ancl grapes of divers sorts. Tlie great red grape, now ripe, 
called bv is^norance the fox-grape because of the relish it !)ath with. 
xinskilCul palates, is in itself an extraordinary grape; and by art, 
douitt'ess, may be cultivated to an excellent wine, if not so sweet, 
yet little inferior to tlie Frontiniac, as it is not much unlike it ia 
taste, ruddiness set asi'e ; which, in such tilings, as well as man- 
kind, differs the case much. There is a white kind of muscadel, 
and a little black grape, like the cluster grape of England, not yet 
SM ripe as the other, — but. tliey tell me, when ripe, sweeter, and 
that they otdy want skdful vinerons to make good u-ie of them. 
I intend 1 1 venture on it with my Frenchman this season, who 
shows some knowledge in tho«e things. Here are also peaches very 
good, and in great quantities, not an Indian plantation without 
them, — but whether naturally here at fiist I know not. However, 
one may have them by bushels for little. They make a pleasant 
drink, and I think noit inferior to any peacli you have in England, 
except the true Newington. It is disputable with me. whether it 
be best to fall to finding the fruits of the country, especially the 
grape, by t'^e care and skill of art, or send for foreign stems and 
sets alreadv good and approved. It seems most reasonable to be- 
lieve, that not only a thing growetb best where it naturally grows, 
but will hardly he equalled by another species of the same kind, 
that doth not naturally grow there. But to solve the doubt, 1 in- 
tend, if God tiive me life to try both, and hope the consequence 
will be as good wine as any European countries of the same lati- 
tude do yield 

" 6. The artificial produce of the country is wheat, barley*, oats, 
rye, peas, beans, squashes, pumpkins, water-melons, musk -melons, 
and all herbs and roots that our gardens in England usually 
bring tortb. 

" 7. Of living creatures, fish, fowl, and the beasts of tlie wood, 
here are divers S'»rts, some for food and profit, and some for profit 
only : for food as well as nrofit the elk, as big as a small ox : deer, 
bigger than ours ; beaver, racoon, rabbits, squirrels, and some eat 
young bear and commend it. Of fowl of the land there is the tur- 
key (forty and fi^ty pounds weight) which is very great, pheasants, 
heath-birds, pigeons, and partridges in abundance. Of the water, 
the swan, goose white and grey ; brands, ducks, teal, also the snipe 

• Edward Jones had for one sp^in of English barley seventy stalks and ears of 
fcarley ; and it is comnion for one- bushel sown to reap forty, often fifty, and sonjf- 

«inaei sixty. Three pecks of wheat sow an sere hsre. 



OK WILLIAM PENK. 14^ 

a«tl carloe,and that in great numbers ; but the duck and teal excel, 
nor so good have I ever eaten in otlier countries. Offish there is the 
sturgeon, herring, rock, shad, cats-head, sheeps-head, eel, smelt, 
perch, roach ; and in inland rivers trout, some say salmon above the 
falls. Of sliell fish, we have ovsters, crabs, cockles-, conchs and mus- 
cles: some oysters six inches long, and one sort of cockles as big as the 
stewing oysters ; they make a rich broth. Tlie creatures for profit 
only, bv skin or fur, and which are natural to these parts, are the 
•U'ild cat, panther, otter, wolf, fox, fisher, minx, musk-rat ; and of 
the water, the whale for oil, of whicli we have good store ; and two 
companies of whalers, whose boats are built, will soon begin their 
work; which hath the appearance of considerable improvement : 
to say nothing of our reasonable hopes of good cod in the bay. 

" 8. We have no want of horses, and some are very good and 
shapely enough. Two ships have been freighted to Barbadoes 
with horses and pipe staves since my coming in. Here is also plen- 
ty of cow-cattle and som€ sheep. The people plough mostly witlx 
oxen. 

" 9. There are divers plants, which not only the Indians tell us, 
but we have had occasion to prove, by swellings, burnings, and 
cuts, that they are of great virtue, suddenly curing the patient; 
and for smell, I have observed several, especially one, the wild 
myrtle, the other I know not what to call, but they are most fra- 
grant. 

" 10. The woods are adorned with lovely flowers for colour, 
greatness, figure, and variety. I have seen the gardens of London, 
best stored with that sort of beauty, but think they may be im- 
proved by our woods. I have sent a few to a person of quality this 
year for a trial. Thus much of the country : next, of the natives or 
aborigines. 

"11. The natives I shall consider in their persons, language, 
manners, religion, and government, with my sense of their origin- 
al. For their persons, they are generally tall, straight, well built, 
and of singular proportion ; they tread strong and clever, and 
mostly walk with a lofty chin. Of complexion black, hut by design, 
as the gipsies in England. They grease themselves with bear's fat 
clarified ; and using no defence against s'.in and weather, their 
skins must needs be swarthy. Their eye is little and black, not 
unlike a straight looked Jew. The ^thick lip and flat nose, so fre- 
quent with the East Indians and blacks, are not common to them; 
for I have seen as comely European-like faces among them, of both 
sexes as on jour side the sea ; and truly an Italian complexion 
hath not much more of the white ; and the noses of several of them 
have as much of the Roman. 

" 12. Their lanauage is lofty, yet narrow : but, like the Hebrew 
in signification, full. Like short -hand in writing, one word serveth 
in the place of three, and the rest are supplied Uy the understand- 
ing of the hearer ; imperfect in their tenses, wantingin their moods, 
participles, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections. I have made it 
my business to un<lerstand it, that I might not want an interpreter 
on any occasion ; and I must say that I know not a language spoken. 
T 



146 MEMOIRS OF THE Llf& 

in Europe, that hath words of more sweetness or greatness, in ac- 
cent and emphasis, than theirs : for instance, Octocockon, Ranco- 
cas, Oricton, Shak, Marian, Poquesien, all of which are names of 
places and have grandeur in them Of words of sweetness, anna 
is mother, issimus a brother, neteap friend, usqueoret very good, 
pane bread, metsa eA, niatta no; hatta to have, payo to come ; Se- 
passen, Passijon. tlie names of phiees ; Tamane, Secane, Menanse, 
Secatareus, are the names of persons. If «ne ask them for any 
thing they have not, they will answer Matta ne hatta, which to 
translate is ' Not I have,' instead of I have not.' 

" 13. Of their customs and manners there is much to he said. 
1 will begin with children. So soon as they are born thev wash 
them in water, and while very young, and in cold weather to 
choose, thev plunge them in the rivers to harden and embolden 
them. Having lapt them in a clout, they lay them on a straight 
thin board a little more than the lenjith and breadth of the cliild, 
and swaddle it fast upon the board to make it straight ; wherefore 
all Indians have flat heads; and thus they carry them at their hacks. 
The children will j;o very young, at nine months commonly They 
•wear only a small clout round their waist till they are big. If boys, 
tliev go a-fishi'ig till ripe for the woods, which is about fifteen. 
Then they hunt ; and iiaving given some proofs of their manhood 
bv a good return of skins, they m:iy marry : else it is a shame to 
think of a wife. Tht girls stay with their mothers, and help to hoe 
the ground, plant corn, and carry burthens ; and they do well to 
use them to that, while young, which they must do when they are 
old ; for the wives are the true servants of the husbands ; other- 
Mfise the men are very affectionate to them. 

" 14. When the young women are fit for marriage, they wear 
something upon their heads for an advertisement, but so as their 
faces are hardly to be seen but when they please. The age they 
marry at, if women, is about thirteen and fourteen ; if men, seven- 
teen and eighteen They are rarely older. 

" 15. Their houses are mats or barks of trees, set on poles in the 
fashion of an English barn, but out of the power of the winds, for 
they are hardly higher than a man. They lie on reeds or grass. 
In travel they lodge in the woods about a great fire, with the man- 
tle of duffils they wear by day wrapt about them, and a few boughs 
stuck round them. 

" 16. Their diet is maize or Indian corn divers ways prepared, 
sometimes roasted in the ashes, sometimes beaten and boiled with 
water, which they call homine. They also make cakes not un- 
pleasant to eat. They have likewise several sorts of beans and 
peas that are good nourishment ; and the woods and rivers are 
their larder. 

" \7. If an European comes to sec them, or calls for lodging at 
their house or wigwam, they give him the best place and first cut. 
If they come to visit us. they salute us with an Itah, which is as 
much as to say " Good be to you !" and set them down, which is 
mostly on the ground, close to their heels, their legs upright : it 
may be they speak not a word, but observe all passages. If yea 



OF WILLIAM FSNK. |47 

give them any thing to eat or drink, well, for they will not ask 5 

and be it little or mucli, if it be with kindness, thej are well pleas* 
ed : else they go away sullen, but say nothing. 

" 18. They are great concealers of their own resentments, 
brought to it, i believe, by the revenge that bath been practised 
among them. In either of these they are not exceeded by the Ital- 
ians. A tragical instance fell out since I came into the country. 
A King's daughter, thinking herself siiglited by ber husband in suf- 
ering another woman to lie down between tliem, rose up, went out, 
plucked a root out of the ground, and ate it, upon which she im- 
mediately died ; and for which last week be ma<!e an offering to 
her kindred for atonement and liberty of marriage, as two others 
did to the kindred of their wives, who died a natural t;eatli ; for, 
till widowers have done so, they must not marry again. Some of 
the young women are said to take undue liberty before marriage 
for a portion ; but, when married, chaste. When with child they 
know theirhusbands no more till delivered.andduring their month, 
they touch no meat they eat but with a stick, lest they should de- 
file it ; nor do their husbands frequent them till that time be ex- 
pired. 

" 19. But in liberality they excel. Nothing is too good for their 
friend. Give them a fine gun, coat, or other thing, it may pass twenty 
hands before it sticks: light of heart, strong affections, but soon 
spent: the most merry creatures that live ; they feast and dance 
perpetually; they never have much nor want much. Wealth cir- 
culateth like the blood. All parts partake ; and though none shall 
want what another hath, jet exact observers of property. Some 
Kings have sold, others presented me with several parcels of land. 
The pay or presents I made them weie not hoarded by the partic- 
ular owners; but the neighbouring Kings and their clans being 
present when the goods were brought out, the parties chiefly con- 
cerned consulted what, and to whom, they should give them. To 
every King then, by the hands of a person for that work appoint- 
ed, is a proportion sent, so sorted and folded, and with that gravity 
wiiich is admirable. Then that King suhdivideth it in like manner 
among his dependants, they hardly leaving themselves an equal 
share with one of their subjects: and be it on such occasions as 
festivals, or at their common meals, the Kings distribute, and to 
themselves last. They care for little, because they want but lit- 
tle: and the reason is, a little contents them. In this they are 
sufficiently reveng-nl on us. If they are ignorant of our pleasures, 
they are also free from our pains. They are not disquifted with 
bills of lading and exchange, nor perplexed with Chancery suits 
and Exchequer reckonings. We sweat and toil to live. Their 
pleas'ire feeds them ; I mean t'^eir hunting, fishing, and fowling, 
and t'lis <able is spread every where. They ea< twice a day, morn- 
ing and evening. Tiieir seats and table are the ground. Since 
the Kuropeans came into these parts, they are grow n great lovers 
of strong lifjuors, rum especially ; and for it exchange the richest 
of their skins and furs. If tliey are treated with liquor, thev are 
restless till they have enough to sleep. That is their cry, " Some 



148 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

more and I will go to sleep ;" but when drunk, one of the most 
wretched spectacles in the world. 

"20. In sickness impatient to be cured, and for it give any 
thing, especially for their children, to whom they are extremely 
natural. They drink at those times a teraii or decoction of some roots 
in spring water; and if they eat any llesh, it must be of the female 
of any creature. If they die, they bury them with their apparel^ 
be they man or woman, and the nearest of kin fling in something 
precious with them, as a token of their love : their mourning is 
blacking of their faces, which they continue for a year. They are 
choice of the graves of their dead ; for, lest they should be lost by 
time, and fall to common use, they pick oifthe grass that grows up- 
on them, and heap up the fallen earth with great care and exactness. 

" 21. These poor people are under a dark night in things relat- 
ing to religion, to be sure the tradition of it : yet they believe a 
God and immortality without the help of metaphysics : for th«y say 
there is a great King, who made them, who dwells in a glorious 
country to the southward of them : and that the souls of the good 
shall go thither, where they shall live again. Their worship con- 
sists of two parts, sacrifice and cantico. Their sacrifice is their 
first fruits. The first and fattest buck they kill goeth to the fire, 
where he is all burnt, with a mournful ditty of him who performeth 
the ceremony, but with such marvellous fervency and labour of 
body that he will even sweat to a foam. The other part is their 
cantico, performed by round dances, sometimes words, sometimes 
songs, then shouts ; two being in the middle who begin, and by 
singing and drumming on a board direct the chorus. Their pos- 
tures in the dance are very antic and diifering, but all keep meas- 
ure. This is done with equal earnestness and labour, but great 
appearance of joy. In the fall, when the corn cometh in, they 
begin to feast one another. There have been two great festivals 
already, to wliich all come that will. I was at one myself. Their 
entertainment was a great seat by a spring under some shady trees, 
and twenty bucks, with hot cakes of new corn, both wheat and 
beans ; which they make up in a square form, in the leaves of the 
stem, and bake them in tlie ashes, and after that they fall to dance. 
But they who go must carry a small present in their money ; it 
maybe sixpence, which is made of the bone of a fish : the black is 
with them as gold ; the white silver ; they call it wampum. 

" 22. Their government is by Kings, which they call Sachama, 
and those by succession : but always of the mother's side. For 
instance, the children of him who is now King will not succeed, 
but his brother by t'le mother, or the children of his sister, whose 
eons (and after them the children of her daughters) will reign, 
for na woman inherits. The reason they render for this way of 
descent is, that their issue may not be spurious. 

" 23. Every King hath his council ; and that consists of all the 
old and wise men of his nation, which perhaps is two hundred 
people. Nothing of moment is undertaken, be it war, peace, sel- 
ling of land, or traffic, without advising with them, and, which is 
more, with the young men too. It is admirable to consider how 



OF WILLIAM PENfT. 149 

po^rerful the Kings are, and yet how they move by the breath of 
their people. I have had occasion to be in council with them 
upon treaties for land, and to adjust the terms of trade. Their 
order is thus : The King sits in the middle of an hail-moon, and 
has his council, the old and wise, on each hand. Behind them, or 
at a little distance, sit the younger fry in the same figure. Hav- 
ing consulted and resolved their business, the King ordered one 
of them to speak to me. He stood up, came to me, and in the 
name of his King saluted me, then took me by the hand, and told 
me that he was ordered by his King to speak to me, and that now 
it was not he but the King who spoke, because what he should say 
was the King's mind. He first prayed me to excuse them, that 
they had not complied with me the last time. He feared there 
might be some fault in the interpreter, being neither Indian nor 
English. Besides, it was the Indian custom to deliberate and 
take up much time in council before they resolved ; and that, if 
the young people and owners of the land had been as ready as he, 
I had not met with so much delay. Having thus introduced his 
matter, he fell to the hounds of the land they had agreed to dis- 
pose of. and the price ; which nov/ is little and dear, that which 
would have bought twenty miles not huying now two. During the 
time that this person spoke, not a man of them was observed to 
whisper or smile, the old grave, the young reverent, in their de- 
portment. They speak little, but fervently, and with elegance. 
I have never seen more natural sagacity, considering them with- 
out the help (I was going to say the spoil) of tradition ; and he 
will deserve the name of wise, who outwits them in any treaty 
about a thing they understand. When the purchase was agreed, 
great promises passed between us of kindness and good neigh- 
bourhood, and that the English and Indiaiss must live in love as 
long as the sun gave light ; which done, another made a speech to 
the Indians, in the name of all the Sachamakers or Kings : first 
to tell them what was done ; next, to charge and command them 
to leve the Christians, and particularly to live in peace with me 
and the people under my government ; that many Governors had 
been in the river ; but that no Governor had come himself to live 
and stay there before : and having now such an one, who had 
treated them well, they should never do him or his any wrong ; 
at every sentence of which they shouted, and said Amen in 
their way. 

" 24. The justice they have is pecuniary. In case of any wrong 
or evil fact, be it murder itself, they atone by feasts and presents 
of their wampum, which is proportioned to the quality of their 
offence or person injured, or of the sex they are of. For, in case 
they kill a woman, they pay double ; and the reason they render 
is, ' that she breedeth children, which men cannot do.' It is rare 
that they fall out if sober ; and if drunk they forgive ; saying, 
' It was the drink, and not the man, that abused them.' 

" 25. We have agreed, that in all differences between us, six 
of each side shall end the matter. Do not abuse them, but let 
them have justice, and yoii win them. The worst is, that they 
are the worse for the Christians, who have propagated their vices, 



150 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

and yielded them tradition for ill and not for good things. But as 
low an ebb as these people are at, and as inglorious as their own 
condition looks, the Christians have not outlived their sight with 
all their pretensions to an higher manifestation. What good then 
might not a good people gralt, where there is so distinct a know- 
ledge left of good and evil? 1 beseech God to incline the hearts 
of all that come into these parts to outlive the knowledge of the 
natives by a fixt obedience to their greater knowledge of the will 
of God ; for it were miserable indeed for us to fall under the just 
censure of the poor Indian conscience, while we make profession 
of things so far transcending. 

" 26. For their original, I am ready to believe them of the Jew- 
ish race, I mean of the stock of the ten tribes, and that for the fol- 
lowing reasons : first, they were to go to a land not planted nor 
known, M'hich to be sure Asia and Africa were, if not Europe j 
and he who intended that extraordinary judgment upon them 
might make the passage not uneasy to them, as it is not impossiblz 
in itself from the easternmost parts of Jisia to the westernmost of 
.America*. In the next place, I find them of the like countenance, 
and their children of so lively resemblance, that a man would 
think himself in Duke's Place or Berry-street in London, when 
he seeth them. But this is not all : they agree in rites ; they 
reckon by moons ; they offer their fi^st fruits ; they have a kind 
of feast of tabernacles; they are said to lay their altar upon 
twelve stones ; their mourning a year ; customs of women ; with 
many other things that do not now occur. So much for the na- 
tives. Next the old planters will be considered in this relation, 
before I come to our colony and the concerns of it. 

*' 27. The first planters in these parts were the Hutch, and soon 
sifter them the Swedes and Finns. The Dutch applied themselves 
to traffic, the Swedes and Finns to Husbandry. There were some 
disputes between them for some years, the Dutch looking upon 
them as intruders upon their purchase and possession, which was 
finally ended in the surrender made by John Rizeing, the Swedish 
govt riior, to Peter Styresant, governor for the States of Hol- 
land, anno 1655. 

" 28. The Dutch inhabit mostly those parts of the Province 
that lie upon or near the Bay, and the Swedes the Freshes of the 
river Delaware. There is no need of giving any description of 
them, who are better known there than here ; but they are a plain, 
strong, industrious people, yet have made no great progress in 
culture, or propagation of fruit trees, as if they desired rather to 
have enough, than plenty or traffic. But I presume the Indians 
made them the more careless by furnishing them with the means 
of profit, to wit, skins and furs for rum and such strong liquors. 
They kindly received me as well as the English, who were few be- 
fore the people concerned with me came among thetn. I must 
needs commend their respect to authority, and kind behaviour to 
the English. They do not degenerate from the old friendship be- 

* This bold conjecture, though thought ridiculous at the time, haj since been 
verified by the discoveries of Captain Cook and later navigators. 



OF WILLIAM PEMK. 151 

tween both kingdoms. As they are people proper and strong of 
body, so they have tine children, and almost every house full ; 
rare to find one of them without three or four boys and as many 
girls ; some six, seven, and eight sons. And I must do them that 
right, I see few young men more sober and laborious. 

" 29. The Dutch have a meeting-place for religious worship at 
New-Castle ; and the Swedes three ; one at Christina, one at 1 e- 
necum, and one at Wicoco Avithin half a mile of this town. 

" 30. There rests that I speak of the condition we are in, and 
what settlement we have made ; in which I will be as short as I 
can ; for 1 fear, and not without reason, that I have tried your pa- 
tience with this long story. The country lieth bounded on the 
East by the River and Bay of Delaware antl Eastern 8ea. It hath 
the advantage of many creeks, or rivers rather, that run into the 
main river or bay, some navigation for great ships, some for small 
craft. Those of most eminency are Christina, Brandy wine, bkil- 
pot, and Sculkill, any one of which has room to lay up the royal 
navy of England, there being from four to eight fathom water. 

"31. The lesser creeks or rivers, yet convenient for sloops and 
ketches of good burthen, are Lewis, Mespillion, Cedar, Dover, 
Cranbrook, Feversham, and Georges below ; and Chichester, 
Chester, Toacawny, Pammapecka, Portquessin, Neshimenck. and 
Pennberry in the Freshes ; many lesser, that admit boats and shal-. 
lops. Our people are mostly settled uponthe upper rivers, which are 
pleasant and sweet, and generally bounded with good land. The 
planted part of the Province and Territories is cast into six coun- 
ties ; Philadelphia, Buckingham, Chester, Newcastle, Kent and 
Sussex, containing about four thousand souls. Two General As- 
semblies have been held, and with such concord and dispatch that 
they sat but three weeks, and at least seventy laws were passed with* 
out one dissent in any material thing. But of this more hereafter, 
being yet raw and new in our gear. However, I cannot forget 
their singular respect to me in this infancy of things, who, by their 
own private expenses, so early considered mine for the public, as 
to present me with an impost upon certain goods imported and ex- 
ported, which, after my acknowledgment of their affection, I did 
as freelyremit toihe frovinceand thetradetsto it. And fortlie well 
government of the said counties. Courts i>f Justice are established 
in every county, with proper officers, as Justices, Sheriffs, Clerks, 
Constables ; which Courts are held every two months. But to 
prevent law-suits there are three Peace-makers chosen by every 
County Court, in the nature of common ^Arbitrators, to hear and 
end differences between man and man. And spring and fall there 
is an Orphan's Court in each county, to inspect and regidate the 
affairs of ( rphans and Widows. 

" 32. Philadelphia, the expectation of those who are concerned 
in this Province, is at last laid out, to the gre.at content of those 
here who are any way interested therein. The situation is a neck of 
land, and lieth between two navigable rivers, Delaware and Scul- 
kill, whereby it hath two fronts upon the water, each a mile, and 
two from river to river. Delaware is a j:lorious river ; but the 
Sculkill, being an hundred miles boatable above the falls, and it? 



115S MEMOIRS OF THE LIFB 

course north-east towards the fountain of Susquahanna, (that tends 
to the heart of the Province, and both sides our own.) it is like to 
be a great part of the settlement of this age. I say little of the 
town itself, because a platform will be shown you by my agent, in 
which those who are purchasers of me will find their names and 
interests. But this I will say, for the good providence of God, of 
all the places I have seen in the world 1 remember not one better 
seated ; so that it seems to me to have been appointed for a town, 
whether we regard the rivers, or the conveniency of the coves, 
docks, and springs, the loftiness and soundness of the land, and 
the air, held by the people of these parts to be very good. It is 
advanced within less than a year to about fourscore houses and 
cottages, such as they are, where merchants and handicrafts are 
following their vocations as fast as they can ; while the country- 
men are close at tlieir farms. Some of them got a little winter- 
corn in the ground last season ; and the generality have had 
a handsome summer-crop, and are preparing for their winter-corn. 
They reaped their barley this year in the month called May, the 
wheat in the month following ; so that there is time in these parts 
for another crop of divers things before the winter season. We 
are daily in hopes of shipping to add to our number ; for, blessed 
be God ! here is both room and accommodation for them : the 
stories of our necessity being either the fear of our friends or the 
scare-crows of our enemies ; for the greatest hardship we have 
suffered hath been salt-meat, which by fowl in winter and fish in 
summer, together with some poultry, lamb, mutton, veal, and plen- 
ty of venison, the best part of the year, hath been made very pass- 
able. I bless God I am fully satisfied with the country and enter- 
tainment [ got in it ; for I find that particular content, which hath 
always attended me. where God in his providence hath made it 
my place and service to reside. You cannot imagine my station 
can be at present free of more than ordinary business ; and, as 
such, I may say it is a troublesome work. But the method things 
are putting in will facilitate the charge, and give an easier motion 
to the administration of affairs. However, as it is some men's 
duty to plough, some to sow, some to water, and some to reap, so 
it is the wisdom as well as the duty of a man to yield to the mind 
of Providei^ce, and cheerfully as well as carefully embrace and 
follow the guidance of it. 

" 33. For your particular concern I might entirely refer you to 
the letters of the President of the Society : but this I will venture 
to say, your provincial settlements, both within and without the 
town, for situation and soil, are without exception. Your city -lot 
is a whole street, and one side of a street, from river to river, con- 
taining near one hundred acres in the city -liberties, part of your 
twenty thousand acres in the country. Your tannery hath plenty 
of bark. The saw-mill for timber and the place of the glass house 
are so conveniently posted for water-carriage, the city-lot for a 
dock, and the whalery for a sound and fruitfd bank, and the town 
Lewis by it to help your people, that by God's blessing the affairs 
of the Society will naturally grow in their reputation and profit. I 
am sure I have not turned my back upon any offer that tended to 



OF WILLIAM PENK, 15S 

its prosperity ; and though I am ill at projects, I have sonietimei 
put in for a share with her officers to countenance and advance her 
interest. You are already informed what is fit for you further to 
do. Whatsoever tends to the promotion of wine and to the man- 
tifacture of linen in these parts, I cannot but wish you to promote; 
and the French people are most likely in both respects to answer 
that desi-^n. To that end I would advise you to send for some 
thousands of plants out of France, with some able vinerons, and 
people of the other vocation. But because I believe you have been 
entertained with this and some other profitable subjects by your 
President, Nicholas Moore, I shall add no more, but te assure yott 
that I am heartily inclined to advance your just interest, and that 
you will always find me 

" Your kind, cordial Friend, 

" William Penn." 

I must mention, before I close this chapter, that the conference 
between William Penn and the Lord Baltimore was renewed this 
year, as agreed upon in the preceding, relative to the boundaries 
of their respective territories. There had been a misunderstanding 
between them about that tract of country which lay to the south- 
ward of the fortieth degree, noith latitude, according to an east- 
ern line drawn from two observations, each claiming it by virtue 
of his own granf. They therefore met at Newcastle to adjust it, 
but the matter was again put oft* by the Lord Baltimore to another 
season. 

William Penn, findins; that the difference was not likely to be 
soon adjusted by the claimants, wrote a letter to the Lords' Com- 
mittee of Plantations in England, to state to them his own case : 
but before an answer could be returned, the Lord Baltimore com- 
missioned his relation. Colonel George Talbot, to make a demand 
in writing of the tract iti question. William Penn, on receiving 
it, gave an answer by letter. This letter together with that to the 
Lords of Plantations are to be seen in the histories of those times ; 
but as they are of considerable length, and as the subject in dis-" 
pute could only be interesting to those who were then concerned^ 
it would be to swell this volume unnecessarily to copy them^ 



f 54 traMOlRS OV THE ITFE 



CHAPTER XX. 

^. 'l6S4—>vioJent conduct of the Lord daltimore — dpposes it h^ 
lenient measures — receives accounts of f-esh pi^rsf cut ions for 
relis^ion in England — determiners to repair thither to use his in' 
jluence. wifhthe Court to stop them — in she meun time settles a 
syatem of discip in^ for his own religious Society — holds con- 
ferences and makes treatit'S wth the Indians'— settles the dispute 
about the bank-lots — nid forwards ^/j' building of 'is city— num- 
ber of h nises and population — total papulation of the setJ lers—- 
prwides firtli'' Government in liis absence — -letter f''oui S. ( risp 
>•'— embarks — wites a fareivell ep'sfle to his friends — -arrives in 
Ensltind— 'Writes to jlurgaret Fox — and to S. iJrxsp — contents 
of the above letters. 

The new vprp was ushered in hy an unpleasant circumstance. 
The Lord Baltimore, ntt feelin;;; safisfli^-l with the lett<^r which has 
been just inentionnl tu !iave lieen sesit to him as an answer t > his 
di'iuand. order*'d forcible entrv to be made intt certain plantations 
within the Territo ii^s or fhref loiver Coantis of the ':'eliiware. 
T'l.is ritramp having been reported, Wjllja-n Penn summoned his 
Council for idvice. Tie result was. that Wi!|i;jin Welc!) was dia- 
pate !ed to Maryland to t'le Loi<l !?altim'Me wit') anot))er letter, 
t'^.e exact copy of th(» former ; but he was to s'^e tlujt it was put in- 
t.» t'l-" Governor's own hand. He was instructed also to use big 
iii^uence to reinstate those who had been dispossessed of their free- 
hoHs, and. in case a;eutle means shituld fail, to prosecute the in- 
vad rs le',i;ally. ^Villiam Welch perform m! his mission ; but in a 
month aftei'wanls Colonel Talbot went wit i three musqueteers 
to the liousi'S of the VVidov O^le. Jonas Erskin. and others, and 
Baide proclamatioii thore. t'lat if thev would not forthwitli yie'd 
obedience to the Lo'd Raltimore, and own him as their proprietor, 
and pav their "pnt to him. he vvould turn them out of their houses, 
and take their lands 'Voni them. To meet tiiis new outraL':e it was 
thougi'it suffiiient in t'.e first instance, that the Government of 
Pennsylvania s'lould issue a nub'ic declaration, which should con- 
tain the title of William Penn to tlie tract in question, and such 
other stiteuT'nts as t'le case mi;:' t seeui to require. This was 
done accordini>,Iy ; and as no similar disturbance took place in this 
year, so no other me is re was adopted. 

The mind of WilliamPenn had been, as maybe natiira'Iy suppos- 
ed, considerably harra^sed by his attention to his various Ameri- 
can concerns, but particularlv bv the dispute between him and the 
Lord Raltimore. Rut that which o;rieved him most was the re- 
ceipt of a series of accounts f-om EuLdan 1, all confirmin<j the per- 
sec'itions under which persons who dissented from the Establish- 
ed Church, but particularly those of t' e Society to which he him- 
selfbelon^ed, weret'ien labouring; there on accountof their religion. 
Meet'n::s in places of worship n )t acknowledged by the law con- 
tinued to be deemed rioto, so that hundreds convicted on this ac- 



OF WIT-LIAM PENW. |5|^ 

oount were then in a state of siilFeiing. Let one instance suffice 
for all. Sir Dennis Slainpson, a justice of t,e pt'ace,l)r< akiiig withi 
a fiarty of horse into a little meeting near A oohurn in ins ovva 
neig'ibotirhood in the precL'tling year, sent most ol tne men whom 
he found therr^, to t'le numiier oft \entv-three, to Aylesbury gaol, 
though the greater part of the i. consisted ot persons win* support- 
ed themselves and families entirely by their own labour. In a few 
days afterward the quarter-session-; were held at Buckingham, 
Avhere Sir Dennis, not findino; it convenient to attend, directed 
that they should he indict(>d for a riot. Being tonveved to Buck- 
ingham, t'-ey ueie indicted acc(trdin^ly. They were then asked 
to iiive bad. \\ . Woodhouse, W. Mason, and j Reeve, who were 
none ''f them Q^iakers, hut who had been oidy casually at the 
meeting, entered into a rec«gni/,ance to appear at the next session. 
The others refused ti» do t'lis. and hcg^^ed that they might be tried 
forthwith ;but tl » i [etitit.n Icing lut ^ri.nt<d, lley were retuiiud 
to gaol. In t''e mean ti »ie. t' at is. between t^isand the next ses* 
sion, Mason dii-d. and Reeve absconded. The rest, however, wlien 
the time came, were hronjilt to trial. They were all found guilty 
of a riot, though t!.ey had been sitting peaceably together and ia 
silence, and t' oui;li t'<ete had been no proclamation made, and no 
one bad been ordered todcpait, The sentence was, That each 
shoultl be fined a nol)le. and kept in prison till it was paid, or dur- 
ing the King's pleasure. W. Woodhouse. a reIat;on stepping for- 
ward to pay his fine and fees for him, was discharged. T. Dell 
and R. Moore weie discharged by the like means ; and shortly af** 
ter S. Pewsey, the oaridi to which he belonged furnishing- the 
money for him, in order that his wife and family miglit be no long- 
er chargeab'e to it. The other seventeen, beiny; all Quakers, and 
therefore uiiable conscientiously to procure bail, namely, T. and 
W. Sexton, T. Child. R. Moor.R James, W. and R. Aldridae, J. 
Ellis, G. Salter. J. Smith, VV. Tanner, W. Batchelor, J. Dolbin, A. 
Brothers, R. Baldwyn, .1. .lenniuixs. and R. Austin, lai in goal till 
King.Tames's proclamation of pardon, which did not take ptacetill 
about ihree ypo.rs nf'ernnrd. 

Accounts of these and similar pprsecutiniis coming; to his ear, 
from time to time, across the Atlantic, gave him areat uneasiness, 
and worked upon hi« benevolent feelin^is so as to produce in him 
by degrees the resolution of returning to Eniilan<l, He indulged 
a hope, that his affairs in America would fiot suffer by a short ab- 
sence, but that in tlie interim he misrht become an in ti'ument, by- 
using his personal influence with the King, of re'ieving in some 
dc'xree, if not putting a st()p to. tlie sufterinr-s of his oppressed 
countrvmen and friends. To this resolution ot!>er considerations, 
lavvfullv and lionourably connected both with his piivate interest 
and his character, contributed. There is nodotibt. when hethou'ht 
of repairing to England for the purpose now mentioned, that the 
desire he had to settle the dispute with I.ortl Ra'timore about the 
boundary -lines of the two provinces, and whic c uild only le final- 
ly terminated by tiie Lords' Committee of Fl ntations n T^ondon^ 
biassed him tlie same way. Nor did it escane him th(t^, by m "etinoj 
Uis enemieg there, who were then numerous, he would tic enabled 



f 5d MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

to do away the many calumnies which they had propagated con- 
cerning Iiim in his absence. He determined therefore, but origin- 
ally and principally for the first of the reasons given, as we may 
collect from his own letters, to leave America for awhile. All the 
writers too of his Life agree in this as his leading motive Ohlmix- 
on, among others, in his " Hritish Empire in America," speaks 
thus : " Mr. Penn staid in Pennsylvania two years, and would not 
then have removed to England, had not persecution against the 
Dissenters raged so violently, that he could not tliink of enjoying 
peace in America, while his brethren in England were so cruelly 
dealt with in Europe. Hp knew he had an interest with the Court 
of England, and was willing to employ it for the safety, ease, and 
ivelfjire of his friends." 

But though he had determined upon a temporary absence, he 
foresaw that he coald not realize his intention at once. Many 
things were to be done before he could depart with satisfaction. He 
resolved therefore to apply himself to these, and this with an in- 
dustrv in proportion to the shortness of his stay. 

One object which he had in view was the better organization of 
a system of discipline for those of his own Society within his 
American dominions. He had already attended to tlie religious 
interests as a minister of the Gospel, He had preached both 
throughout the Province and Territories, to the edification of ma- 
ny : but, now that he was going to leave them, he was desirous of 
improving the rules for their orderly walking, and particularly as 
disputes still continued among tbem on this subject. 

Another object, and this near his heart, was to know, not only all 
the Indians within his own domains, but those bordering upon 
them, with a view to their civilization and the perpetuation of love 
and friendship on both sides. He had held frequent conferences 
•with them for these purposes ; in which he had advised them against" 
tlie use of strong liquors, and endeavoured to inculcate in them a 
just sense of the benefit of a Christian life and condi'ct : but now 
he redoubled his efforts, and this with so much success, that, be- 
fore the time of his departure came, he had made, at Pennsbury 
and other places, treaties of Amity ivith no less t'lan nineteen tribes 
of a different name. Indeed nothing could exceed his love for 
these poor people, or his desire of instructing them, so as to bring 
them by degrees to the knowledge of the Christian religion ; and in 
this great work he spared no expense, though v/hatever he bestow- 
ed in this wav came solelv out of his own pocket. Oldmixon says 
*' that he laid out several thousand pounds to instruct, support and 
oblige them " The consequence was on their part, an attachment 
to him and his successors, which was never broken. 

Another object was to forward, to the utmost of his power, the 
buildings that were to constitute his new city. There was a dis- 
pute at tliis time about the high and dry bank near the shore which 
fronted the Delaware River, in which ^/jp Cares were described to 
have been made. This bank and the shore adjoining to it were of 
particular value, because they were the roads as it were for goods 
that were to be passed either to or from the city and the water. 
He thought it proper therefore immediately to terminate this diss 



«F AVILLIAM PENN. \5f 

pute. Accordingly < in answer to an Address " from several of the 
Adventurers, Freeholders, and Inhabitants in the VAty of Phila- 
delphia, respecting the Front or Bank Lots along the Side of th© 
Delaware, who claimed the Privilege to build Vaults or l^toies in 
the Bank against their respective Lots, and to enjoy them as their 
Righf," he informed them, tiiat he considered the Bank as a C .m- 
mon from end to end : that the rest next the water belonged to 
front-lot men no moretlian to back-lot men ; that the way bounded 
thenj ; that they might build stairs ; that the\ might use the bank 
for a c nnmon exchange or walk ; and tliat against the street com- 
mon wharves mi;;ht be built freely, hut that he had not sold the 
shorp nor the land in the water to any man. Havinji tlius settled 
the matter by which the advantages to be derived from the bank 
wert to be common to all, he directed his attention towards pro- 
moting tl'.e progress of the City. He gave encouragement to those 
who were erecting houses to advance with sjirit in their progress, 
and to those who had determined upon tlieir sites to prttceed forth- 
with from the ground ; and so active was he in this department al- 
so, that nearly three hundred honses were io be seen on his own plan, 
before he departed. ISJoll and Oldmixon both agree in this partic- 
ular, as well as t!:at the inhabitants of Philadelphia amounted in 
thin yea.1' to two thoitsmid jive hundred persons of all descriptions. 
He had also by this time establislied twenty ioivnships in his do- 
minions; in which altogether, including his own countrymen and 
naturalized foreigners, he had a population of about seven thousand 
souls. 

Wtiile he was employed in this manner, the ketch Endeavour 
arrived from England, and anchored opposite to Philadelphia. She 
brought both passengeis and letters. Among the latter he received 
one from his esteemed friend Stephen Crisp, whon: I had occasion 
to mention in a preceding chapter. This letter was afterwards 
published : and though I have nothing to do either with it or with, 
the Life of this worthv minister to which it was annexed, I cannot, 
considering how applicable it was to the situation of William Penn 
at this time as well as valuable in other respects, resist the desire 
I feel of giving an extract from it. 

" Dear W illiam," savs the writer, " I have had a great exercise 
of spirit concerning thee, which none knows but the Lord ; for my 
spirit has been much bowed into thy concern, and diflRculty of thy 
present circumstances ; and I h.ave had a sense of the various spir- 
its, and intricate cares, and multiplicity of affairs, and these of va- 
rious kinds, which daily attend thee, enough to dritk up thy npirit, 
and tire thy soul : and which, if it be not kept t<t the inexhaustible 
Fountain, may be dried up. And this I must tell thee, which thou 
also knowest, that the highest capacity of natural wit and parts 
will not, and cannot, perform what thou hast to do, namely, to 
propagate and advance the interest and profitofjthe Government and 
Plantation, and at the same time to give the interest of Truth, 
and testimony of the holy name of God their due preference in all 
things : for to make the wilderness sing forth the praise of God is 
a skill beyond the wisdom of this world. It is greatly in man's 
power to make a wilderness into fruitful fields according to the 



158 MEMOIRS OF THE LSPE 

common course of Goal's providence, who givos wisdom and! 
etreiigfi to the indastrious ; hut th' n how he, w*io is the *'reatt)r, 
may oave his d^ie hoiiuur and service therehy, is only taught by 
the Spirit ill them who singly Wait upon liim " 

Having made up his mi?id to ret'irn to Kngland in the vessel 
which brought the above letter he began to consider of all those- 
appointments wliich were necessary for carrying on the Govern- 
ment of the Province and Territories during his absence. When 
therefore it was announced to him, th.t the h^ndeavour was ready 
to return, he signed a Commission, e<iipoweiing tlie Provincial 
Council to act in the Govt-rnment in his stead, of which he 
named Thomas Llovd. a Q jaker preacher, who came originally 
from Wales, the President. Jle gave also commissions to the fol- 
lowini"; persons : to the before-neritioned Thomas Lloyd, to keep 
the Great Seal ; to his rel ition Colonel Markham, to be Secretary 
to the Province and Territories, or Three Lower Counties ot the 
Delaware ; to 'Tliomas ilolme.to be Survevor-jj^'noral of the same; 
to Thoma* Lloyd, .lames ('lavpole, and Rohert Turner, to sign 
Patents and frran* W^arrants for Lnnds ; to William Clark, to he a 
Justice of the Peffre for- the whole Jurisdiction; and to Nicholas 
M)ore, William Widch, William Wood, Robert Turner, and John 
Eckley. to act as Provincial JuiJijes for two years, whose Cominis- 
sion I an in these words : 

" William Penn, Proprietary and Governor of Pennsylvania and 
the i'erritones thereunt<t I'tdotiging; : 

*'To my trustv and lovinii Friends. N. Moore, W. Welch, W. 
Wood. R. Tuiner. and J. Kckley. sheeting : 

*' Reposing especial confidence in yourjustice, wisdom, and in- 
tegrily. I do, by virtue of the King's authority derived unto me, 
constitute you Provincial Judges foi- the Province and Territories, 
and any legal numljerof you a Provincial Court of Judicature, both 
fixed and circular, as is by law directed, srivinji you and every of 
you full power to act thenin according to the same; stictlv charg- 
ing you, and every of you, to do Justice to all. and <»f all degrees, 
•without delay, fear, or reward : And I do hereby req 'ire all per- 
sons within the Province and Territories afr>resaid to give vou due 
obedience and resnect, belon!i;in!>: to your station, in the discharge 
©f your duties. This Commission to be in force durinsi; tvv.> yenrs 
ensuing th-' da'e hereof, vou and every of vou behaving your- 
selves well therein, and acting according!; to tlie samr>, 

" Given at Philadelphia the fourth of the sixth month. 1G84. be- 
ing the tliirty-sixth vear of the King's reign, and the fourth 
of my Government " 

Having thus provided for the Government durinsr his absence, 
he went on hoard Hie Endeavour ; from whence, justhefore he sail- 
ed, he wrote the followina; hotter : 

" To Thomas Lloyd. J. Claypole, J. Simcock, C. Tavlor, and 
J. Han-ison. to be communicated in ^leetings in Pennsylva- 
nia and the Territories thereunto belonging among Fiie;ids. 

*' My love and mv life is to vou. and witli vou, and no water 
can quench it, nor dist n -e weai it out. or brin<j it to an end. I 
have bcea with you, cared over you, and served you with unteign- 



«F WILLIAM PEN». 130 

ad love ; and you are beloved of me. and near to me heyond ut* 
teraiice. I bless you in the name and povvei of the l^ord. and may 
GfttI hless vi>u With his rigliteousness, peace, and plenty, al! tlie 
land over! O that ^ ou w«)ul(l eye him in all, tiirouj^h all, and above 
all the vvoiksof your hands, and let it be your first care how yoa 
may ^I'"''fy ''ill* i" your undertakings ! for to a blessed end ar» 
you brouj:;' t hitlier ; and if vou see and keep but in the sense of 
tliat I'rovideiice, your coming, staying, and improving vnll be sanc- 
tified : hut if any foiget iiMn,an(l cal not upon his na'' e in truth, 
he will pour out his plagues upon t'Dem, and they shall know who 
it is tlat judgeth the child en of men. 

"" (). vou are now come to a quiet land ; provoke not t'le Lord to 
trouble it ! And now t! at liberty and authority are with you and 
in your hands, let tii** Govemnient be upon his shoulders in all 
your spirits, that you m.iy rule for Him untler whom t. e Princes 
of this world will one day es*eem it their honour to govern and 
serve in tlieir places. I cannot but say, when these t'in;.s come 
mightily upon my mind, as tl»e Apostles said (d"old, ' What man- 
ner of persons ought we to be in all gfwlly conversMtion P Truly 
the nauie and honour ol the J. ok! are deeply conrerned in you as 
to tlie discharge of yourselves in yiur present station, manv eves 
being upon you ; and remember that, as We have been belied 
about disouning the true Reli, ion. so, of all Government, to be- 
hobl Us exemplary and Christian in the use of it will not only 
stop our enemies, but miniiter convicton to many on that account 
prej'idiced. that you may see and know that service, and do it 
fur the Lord in this your day ! 

'• \ ikI thou, Philadelplda, the virg^in settlement of tliis province, 
named before thou vvert born, wliat love, what care, what service, 
and what travail, has there been to brinu tliee forth and preserve 
ti :ee from sucli as would abuse :nd defile thee. 

'* () that thou miiyest be kept from the evil that would over- 
whelm tl>ee ; that, faithful to th.e God of tliy mercies, in the life 
of rijrbteousness thou maye^t he preserved to the end ! My soul 
prays ti» (to<I for tht*e, t!iat them maye-:t stand in the day of trial, 
tliat thy children may he blessed of the Lord, and thy people sav- 
ed bv his power. My love to thee has been great, and the remem- 
brance of thee aftects n^v beait and niine eye. The God of 

eternal strength keep and preserve thee to his giory and peace ! 

'• So, de.tr Friends, mv love again salutes you all, wishing that 
grace, mercy and peace, with all temporal blessinjjs. may abound 

richly among you ! So says, so prfiys, your friend and lover 

in the truth, 

« William Penn." 

Soon after this be sailed to the rejrret of the whole colony ; 

to th.e rp;«ret o!" t'e Dutch. Suedes, and Germans, whom he 

had admitted itito full citizenship with the rest, and who bad found 

in hitn an impartial Governor and a kind friend ; to the regret 

of the Indians, who had been overcome by his love. care, and con- 
cern for them ; and to the regret of his own countrymen, who 

had nartiiken more or less of that generosity w!mc- was one of the 
most prominent features ia hi** ch.iratter. And liere I may ob-* 



llSO MEMOIRS OF THE LIf E 

serve, with respect to his generosity, that the wliole colony had 
experieaced it ; for it ought never to be forgotten, that vf'u-n the 
first Asseinhly offered him an impost on a variety of goods both 
importe<l anci exported (wiiich impost in a cour-^e of years would 
have beco-ne a large revenue of itself), he nobly refused it : t'ius 
showing that his object in coming am »iig tliem wis n.»t that of hi» 
own aggraridizem Mit, but for the promotion of a public good. 

The day on which he sailed was the twelfth of August, atid that 
on which he landed in England was the third or fourth of Octo- 
ber ; so that he had a passage of about seven weeks. A Iftter has 
been pr;-se:-ved, dated Londoo, t!ie twentv-ninth of the eighth 
month, whicii he wrote soon after his arrival, to Maigaiet Fox, 
the wife of the celebrated George Fox. wiiich lixes the latte'- dnte^ 
and which m ikes us acquainted with some qtiier particulars con- 
cerning him. *' It is now," says he, '"a few days above three 
weeks since 1 arrived well in my native land. It was within sev- 
en mi'^s of my own house, wh.'re i f>>un 1 my dear wife and poof 
childieii well, to the overcoming of inv heart because of the mer- 
cies of tfie Lord to us." We find by tliis letter, in which he thank- 
ed her for the love she had sliown his wife during his absence, and 
by which, he said, his heart and soul were aftecte<l. that he had ex- 
perienced no sickness or indisposition while in Pennsylvania, 
*' that he had not mi>(sed a meal's meat or a night's rest since he 
■went to t at countrv ; and that wonderfully had the Lord pre- 
served him through many troubles, in the settlement he bad made, 
both with respect to the government and t!ie soil." ^Mih respect 
to the settlement, notwithstanding the false reports in circulation, 
reports arising from envy, he could say "that things went oti 
sweetly witli Friends there, that many increased finely in their 
outward tilings and gre>v also in wisdom, and that t' eir Meetings 
were blessed, of which there were no less than eiirhteen in the 
province." It appears, by this letter, that he had already been at 
Court. " He had seen the King and the Duke of York. They 
and their Nobles had been very kind to him, and be hoped the 
Lord would make wav for him in their hearts to serve his suffer- 
ing people, as also his own interest as it related to his American 
concerns.'* 

Another letter has been preserved, which he wrote. some weeks 
after that to Margaret Fox, to his friend Stephen Crisp. This 
worthy minister had written to him since his arrival in England, 
to inform him of the manv reports in circulation that were inju- 
rious to bis character. The letter therefore in question was t« 
satisfy his fnend as to the falsehood of what he had heard. By 
means of it (for the letter of S. Crisp is lost) we beco'me ac- 
quainted with the c'^aiges tliat were made against him. It ap- 
pears, among otlier things, that his enemies had laid hold of some 
circumstances which had been reported to have taken place undt^r 
his government, by which thev would have had it inferred that he 
had given his sanction to some military proceedings, and there- 
fore that he had di'^honoured his religious profession as a Quaker. 
To this he replied, that " he knew of no act of hostility. There 
■was an old timber-house at New-Castle, above the Sessions-cham-*. 



OF WILLIAM PENM, 161 

ber, standing upon a green, on which lay seven old iron small 
cannon, some on the ground, and others on broken carriages ; but 
there was neither a military man, nor powder, nor bullet, belong- 
inii to them. They were t;\e property of the Government of New 
York. How fur t :e people of New Castle mig' t. in consequence 
of Colonel Talbot's threatenings, liave drawn them inti> security 
' and paled about their prison since iie came away, he co'ild not 
tell : but he was sure that, while he was there, no soldier or mili- 
tiaman was ever seen ; nor had any individual any commission of 
war from him. nor was there any law to that end. With respect 
to making money of the settlement, another of the char-es, he 
had never made it a matter of gain ; but had hazarded his life, 
and maintained Government and Governor these four years past. 
He had b.^en a gainer, if he had given the land, had transported 
free, and had had a house built for him but half as f;Ood as he left 
behind him. With respect to the alteration of the Charter, about 
■which there had been so much clamour, what had been altered 
(and that very little) had been by the people's desire, and not for 
any end of his own. Besides, the alteiation was not immutable, 
as it was to be submitted to time, and place, and the public good. 
And with regard to the addition lately made to Philadelphia, it 
could afford no just cause of complaint. He had bought the land 
there of the old inhabitants, the Swedes. This had enabled him 
to add eifjbt hundred acres to the city, and a iniie on a navigable 
river. What he had thus bought, he had I'iven freely to the pub- 
lic ; though, had he retained it, considering its situation, it had 
been of extraordinary advantage to himself. But he could not," 
he said, " hope to please all." Thus we see that the best of men 
have their enemies ; and that, where prejudice has once taken 
root in the mind, every tb-ng is viewed through a false medium. 
The 2-ood that is connected with it is dimini^lied, and the evil 
magnified nay, the very name and nature of t!ie thing are chang- 
ed ; so that avarice itself is fixed upuu the most generous aud 
patriotic motives. 



W 



HEMOIUS OP THE LIFE 



CHAPTER XXI. 



»9. 1685 — sivfs an account of the death of Charlea the Secon'I'—'ii 
in great fitvoiir wiJi James the Second — han frequent inter cieiv6 
with the King — endeavours to stop pers--cntwn — intercedes for 
John Locke — becomes unpopular by his attendance at Court- 
called Papist and Jesuit — correspondence be' ween him and Td- 
lotson on this subject — present at two isuhiic e.recutions — ttFairs 
of Pennsiflvania-^irregnlarities and abuses in his absence—' 
writex over to correct them — Issemblif impeach ^Moore and 
arrest kobinson — their letter t» him on the subject. 

William Penv !ia*l two obj.'cts in view, as I observed before, 
Jn returning to En2;!:ind. The first an»l most important was to 
trv to stop, if possible, the cruel arm of persecution : anrl the 
second was to procure a so'erly adjiistnient of the diiference be- 
tween him and the Lord B:i!timore. With respect to the first, 
he had made som" little progress in it, having ol>tained a sort of 
promise from the Kinc that he would do something in behalf of 
those whose ca-ise he pleaded ; and with respect to the sacond, he 
brrmght it to a fiti ;1 issue. The liOrds' Committee of Plantations, 
havin'4 inspected the grants and heard tlie pvi;ience on both sMes, 
made their report to t^^e King ; and the King decided, that the 
land should be divided into two equal na* ts The part on the 
Chesapeake was to be given to the Lord Baltimore. The part on 
the Delaware was to relapse to the Crown. This latter part, 
however, was ultimately intended for VVilliani Penn. 

Soon after this the King died of an apoplexy. William Penn, 
in on*' of his letters written at this time to Thomas Llovd, w!iotn 
he had left President of his Provincial Council, gives an account 
of his d'Mth ; and as there are some curious particulars in it rel- 
ative to the King himself and those about lii.n. as well as to what 
passed both in and out of Court, at t!ie time, which he, from his 
frequent access to the Royal Family since his arrival in England, 
had an opportunity of knowing, I shall lay an extract from it be- 
fore the -eader. 

" The King is dead, and the Duke succeeds peaceably. He was 
well on the first day (Sunday) night. About eight next morning, 
as he sat down to shave, his head twitched both ways or sides; and 
he gave a shriek and fell as dead, and so remained some hours. 
They opportunely blooded and cupped him, and plied his head with 
red-hot frying-pans. He returned (revived) and continued till 
sixth day noon, but mostly in great to -tu res. He seemed very 
penitent, asking nardon of all, even t-e poorest subject he hatl 
•wronged, prayed for pardon- and to he delivered out of the world, 

the Duke appearing mighty humble and sorrowful. He was an 

able man for a ilivided and trouhl m1 kingdom. The present King 
was proclaimed about three o'clock tbat day. A Proclamation 
followed, with the King's Sp ech to maintain the Church and State 
as established, to keep property and use clemency. Tonnage and 



OF WILLIAM PEJTM, IGS 

Poundage, witli the Excise, are revived de hen^. es^e fill the Par* 
liament meet J^neis now chctosiiig The people of West- 
minster just gone bj' to clioose It sits tlie nineteenth of the 

tl^ird mont) iifXt.— -in Scotland one next month. Severities 

coatinue still, but some t'ase to us faintly promised. Be care- 
ful that no indecent speeches p-ss against the Giiveiiiment, for the 
Kinj; ;.oing with his Queen pulilicly t(» mass in Wiiitehall gives oc- 

casinn. He dechued he concealed himself to ob«*y his brotisery 

and that now !ie would he abovehoard ; Vviiich We like the better 
on many accounts. 1 was with him, an<l told him so ; but with- 
al Iioped We should come in for a share." He smied, aiid said 

he desired no+ t.'sat penceabte people sliould he disturbed for their 

reii^ion. And till his corcmation, the twenty-tljird, when he 

and iiis conso! t are together to be crowned, no hopes of release; 
and till the Pirliament. no hopesof any fixed liberty. My busi- 
ness. I would hope, is better. The late King, the Papists will 

have, died a R-nnan t'athnlic ; for he refused (after bis usual way 
oi evading uneasy tbiiiiis, with unpieparedness first, and tiieii 
weakness) the Chuich of England's Communion, Bishop Kfo of 
"Wells pressing him, that it would be to his condbrt and that of his 
people to see that he died nf that religion he had made profes-sion, 

of when living: hut it would not do. And once, all but the 

Duke, Earl ol I5ath,and I-md Feversham, were turned out; and one 
Huddlestone, a Bomisii priest, was sten about that time near the 

cha.mber. This is most of our news The Popish liOrds and 

Gentry go to Wbitelial! to mass dady : and the Tower, or Royal 
Chapel, is crammed by wing with the Protestant Lords and Gen- 
try. The late King's children even by the Dutchess of Ports- 
Hiouth go thither." 

Charles the Second being dead was succeeded by his brother, 
who then became Janes the Second. It may be rec<dlected that 
Vice-adn.iral Penn, when he was on his death-bed, recommended 
Ijis son to the car*' and guardianship of the latter, when Duke of 
York. From tins period a more regular acquaintance gi'ew up 
betwei'n them, and intimacy followed. During this intimacy, how- 
ever William Penn might liave disapproved, as he did, of the re- 
lijfious opinions of his guardian, he was attaclied to him front a be- 
lief that he was a friend to liberty of conscience. Entertaining 
thi'^ opinion concerning him, he conceived it to be his duty, now 
lb t "le had become King, to renew his intimacy with him, and 
this in a stronger mannei- than ever, that he migl't forward the 
great object for which he had crossed tlie Atlantic, namely, the re- 
lief of those unhappv perstms vvlio were then suftering on account 
of their religion. He determined therefore to reside near him for 
these purposes, and accordingly he took lodgings for himself and 
family at Kensington. 

It appears, while he resided there, that he spent his time, and 
that he used his influence with the King, solely indoinggood. All 
politics be avoided, never touching upon them unless called upon ; 
and then he never espoused a party, but did his best to recommend 
moderation and to allay beats. If he ever advised t'le Ring, it 
was for his own real interest and the good of the nation at large^ 



164 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Generally speaking, however, he confined himself to the ohject be- 
fore meiitioiied ; aud in endeavourini-, to promote this, he was alive 
to tlie situation not only of those of his own religious Society, but 
of those of other Christian denominations who were then languish- 
ing in the gaols of the kingdom. 

Among tne first applications which he made to the King was 
one, the remembrance of which will iihvays do honour to his mem- 
ory. It was in behalf of the venerable John Locke, who had fol- 
lowed his patron, t'le Earl of Sbaftshiiry, into Holland, when he 
fled there to avoid <he further persecution of ids own Court. Locke 
himself had been depri\ed, only the preceding year, of his place 
of Student of Christ-church, Oxford, with all its rights and advan- 
tages, b^^ the command of the late King, and was at this time in 
danger of being seized and sent to England in consequence of the 
opposition he had given to Popery and arbitnn-y power. It wasa^ 
this moment then that Willi;im Penn applied. His application 
was successful. At least James the Second permitted William 
Penn to inform Locke that he sliould be pardoned. The message 
■was accordingly sent. Locke in n turn expressed his sense of the 
friendship of William Penn, but said iUat he had no occasion for a 
pardon when be bad not been guilty of any crime. This reminds 
me of a similar answer from George Fox to Charles the 8ecand. 
This prince, (ouched by the hard case of the former, offered to dis- 
charge him from prison by a pardon ; hut he declined it on the 
idea that, as a pardon implied guilt, his innocence might be called 
in question by the acceptance of it. Thus men of high moral feel- 
ing disdain even deliverance from oppression on terms which would 
implicate their honour. 

That we may judge of the attention shown to William Penn by 
James the Second, and of the almost incessant employment of Penn 
in behalf of others, during his residence at Kensington, I shall 
copy the following passage from Gerard Croese : 

" William Penn was greatly in favour with the King, the Qua- 
ker's sole patron at Court, on whom the hateful eyes of his ene- 
mies were intent. The King loved Iiim as a singular and entire 
friend, and imparted to him many of Ins secrets and counsels. He 
often honoured him with his company in private, discoursing with 
liim of various affairs, and that not for one but many hours to- 
gether, and delaying to hear the best of his Peers who at the same 
time were waiting for an audience. One of these being enviou? 
and impatient «»f delay, and taking it as an affront to see the other 
more reiravded than himself, adventured to take the freedom to tell 
His Majesty, that when he met with Penn he thought little of 
his Nobility. The King made no other reply, than that Penn al~ 
icays falkedingpniouslif, and he heard him tcillin2;l!f. Penn, being 
so highly favoured, acquired thereby a number of friends. Those 
also who formerly knew him, when tliey had any favour to ask at 
Court, came to. courted, and entreated Penn to promote their sev- 
eral requests. Penn refused none of liis friends any reasonable 
office he could do f..r them ; hut was readv to sei've them all. but 
more especially the Quakers, and these wherever their religion 
was concerned. It is usually thought, when yoa do me one fa- 



or WILLIAM PEK^f.. |65 

vour reaciily, you thereby encouraged metoexpectaseconfl. Thus 
thev ran to Fenn witiiout intermission, as their only jullar and 
support, v/ho always caressed and received them clicerlilly, and 
effected their business by his interest anil eloquence. Hence his 
liouse and gates were daily thronged by a numerous train of cli- 
ents and suppliants desiring him to present tlieir addresses to His 
Majesty. There were sometimes tlsere two hundred and more. 
When the carrying on these aftairs required money for writings, 
such as drawing things out into form and copyings, and for tees 
and Other charges which are usually made on such occasions, J*enn 
so discreetly managed matters, that out of his own. which he had 
in abundance, he liberally discharged many emergent expenses." 

But though this recepticm, and the use he made of his interest 
at Coiut, enabled ].im to serve man}-, they weie attended with 
great disadvantages to himself; for at,t!iis time the whole kingdom 
was in a ferment. The people, considering James the Second as 
a professed Papist, were filled with the most aia'ming apprehen- 
sions, lest (as in the days of Queen Mary) he should endeavour 
by mean? of persecution to overthrow the Pretestant and establish 
i'^(i. Popish religion in its stead. Knowing therefore that William 
Penn was so frequejitly at Court, and tliat his doors at Kensington 
were daily crowded with strangers, of whose errand there tliey ^^ ere 
ignorant, they began to suspect that he was of the same religious 
profession with the King. Hence he was now openly talked of as a 
professed Papist. He was bred, it was said, at St. Omer's, and he 
had received Priest's orders at Rome. The term Jesuit was re- 
vived, but with a tenfold energy. Nay, it was even supposed that 
he was planning with the King for tie subversion of the religion of 
the realm. Reports of thi'- sort not only injured him, but the 
Quakers also, in the eyes of the public, so that neither one Tior the 
other wentout of doors witiiout occasionally meeting with abuse. 

Amojig other things invented to prejudice him with the nation, 
two copies of verses were printed, in v.hich the author was made 
to condole on the late King's death, and to ofifer his congratulations 
on the accession of the present. To each of these copies were af- 
fixed W. P. M'hich were the Initials of his name. The verses were 
purposely imputed to him ; and the clamour becoming general 
against him on this account, he resolved to try to undeceive the 
public, but not so much on his own account as because the mem- 
bers of his own religious Society, might suffer by bis silence. He 
wrote therefore a paper, dated from his seat at VVorminr^hurst, 
where he had gone for a iiltle repose, called "Fiction found out," 
which he addressed to the Quakers as a body. In this paper, after 
showingthe inconsistency of the charge against him, and tins in a 
vein of wit and ridicule, he explained the foundation of his reli- 
gious faith, and his civil conduct as it had been to all descriptions 
of men. and concluded with this ohservati()n ; " ! have ever loved 
England, and moderation to all parties in it, and long seen and 
foreseen the consequences of t'le want of it. I would yet heartily 
wish it might t'ke place, and Perr^u:»sion instead of Ptrsecution, 
that we m\^\tnnt^row harbtircnsfor Christianity, nor abuse and 
undo one another Jor God's sakeP 



166 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

But this letter produced little or no eifect. The^^ who espoused 
the Protestant cause from a helief t'lat its prosperity was essential- 
ly connected u'itii tiie h^st interests of the kingdom weresoalarm- 
ed at this particular moment, that they did not see as it were vvitli 
th'Mr usual eyes, but allowed themselves to be carried down with 
thestrem; a^il low^^^ve- e Cf^lieat both the public and private 
character of William Penn was acknowledged to Ne, there weie 
persons, and these exalted by t'leir station, undi^rstanding, and 
worth, nay. sucli as had even known him, who not only began to be 
shy of him. but to mention to others the rei)orts that were then 
afioat concerning him. Among these was that excellent man L)r. 
Tillotson. afterwards Vrchbishop of Canterbury. iViHiani Pcnn, 
upon b'i'uringthis. was moch iiu;t, and the more so, because he had 
a regird for the Doctor personal!}, and because he knew the hi.;h 
estimitioa in which he was lield in the nation. He wrote to him 
ti:erefore, when he returned to London, the foUowiny; lett.r : 

•■• B .ing often tnkl tlut Dr. Tillorson should suspect me, and so 
report oe, a Panist. [ t'link a Jesuit, and being closely prest, I take 
the liberty to ask thee if any such reflection fell from thee. P it 
did. 1 am sorrv oiie I esteemed ever the first of his r.'he should so 
undeservedly stain me, for so I call it ; and if the story be fals •, I 
am sorrv they should abuse Dr. Tillotson as wrll as mvself with- 
out a cause. I add no more, but that I abhor two principles in re- 
ligion, and pity those that own them. The first is Obediencenp' 

on jiu^ orittj wi^hnnt ^'oMriciio/i, and the other th" destmijinr^them 
tint dilfW from niP for God'^s snice. Such a religion is without 
judgment, though not without teeth. Union is best, if light ; else 
charity : and, as Hooker said, the time will come Avhen a few words 
spoken with meekness, humility and love, shall be more accepta- 
ble than volumes of controversies, which commonly destroy chari- 
ty, which is the very best part of t'*e t'ue religion : I mean not a 
charity t'lat can change with all, but bear ail, as I can Dr. Tillot- 
son in wliat he dissents from me, and in this reflection too, if said, 
which is not yet believed by thy Christian true Friend, 

" William Penn." 

This letter produced from Dr. Tillots'^n the followingopen. can- 
did, and i)olite answer; which as it breathed a spirit of liberality 
in teligion wortliv of his superior education, so it peculiarly quali- 
fied him for tliat liigh station which he afterwards filled with no 
less honour to himself than usefulness to his country. 
" Honoured Sir, 

'• The demand of your letter is very just and reasonable, and the 
manner of it very kind : therefore, in answer to it, be pleased to 
take the following account : 

" The last time you did me the favour to see me at my house, I 
did,accordingtothe freedom I always use where I profess any friend- 
ship, acquaint vou with something I had heard of a correspon- 
dence you held with some at Rome and particularly with some of 
the Jesuits t'^ere. At which you seemed a little surprised : and, 
after some general discourse about it, you said you would call on 
me some other time, and speak further of it. Since that time I 
never saw you, but by accident and in passage, where 1 thought 



OF WILLIAM PENN, 167 

you always declined me. p;utirularlj at Sir William Jones's cham- 
ber, wl.ich was the last time, I tliink, I saw you ; iijion wlticli oc- 
casion 1 t'lok notice to liim of your strangeness to me, and told 
what I thou^l't might be the reason of it, and that I was sorry '"or 
it. because 1 had a particular esteem of your parts ai-d temper. 

^ The same. I believe, I have said to some otl\ers, hut to vvliom I do 
not so particularly remember, feaice your going to Pennsylvania 
I never thought more of it. till lately being in some company, one 
of them pressed me to declare whether 1 had not heard something 
of you which had satisfied me that you were a Papist ? I answer- 
ed." No ; by no means. I told him wliat I had hoard, and what I 
said to you. and of the strangeness that ensued upon it ; hut that 
this never went further with me than to make me suspect tliere 
was more in that report which I had heard than I was at first wil- 

* ling to believe : and that if any made m<ire of it, I should look up- 
on them as very injuiions iioth to Mr. Penn and myself. 

" This is the truth of that matter ; and whenever you will please 
to satisfy me that my suspicion of the truth of that report I had 
heard wasgrounilless, I will heartily beg your pardon for it. I do 
fully concur with you in the abhorrence of the two principles you 
mention, and in your approbation of that excellent saying of Mr. 
Hooker, for vvl ich I shall ever higldy esteem him. I have endeav- 
oured to make it one of the governing principle<s of my life, never 
to abate any thing ofhnmanifi/ and charily to any man for his dif- 
ference from me in opinion, and particularly to those ofyoui persua- 
sion, as several of them have had e,v peri, nice. I have been ready up- 
on all occasions to do them all offices of kindness, being tridy sorry 
to see them s> hardly used ; and though I thought them mistaken^ 
yet in the main I believed them to he very honest. I thank you for 
your letter, and have a just esteem of the C! ristian temper of it, 
and rest your faitliful Friend, 

" Jo. TiLLOTSON." 

Upon the receipt of this letter William Penn made the follow- 
ing manly but yet respectful reply ; 
" Worthy Frirnd, 

" Having a much less opinion of mv own memory than of Dr. 
TiUotson's truth, 1 will allow the fact, though not the jealousy ; 
for, besides that 1 cannot look strange where I am well used, l 
liave evpr treated the name of Dr. Tillotson with another regard. 
I mii:ht be grave, and full of my own business I was also then dis- 
appointed bv the Doctor's ; but my n.iture is not harsh, my educa- 
tion less, and my principles least of all. It was the opinion I 1 avo 
had of the Doctor's moderation, simplicity, and integrity, rather 
than his parts or post, that alwavs made me set a value upon his 
friendship, of which perhaps I am better judge, leaving the lat- 
ter to men of deeper talents. I blame him nothing, hut leave it to 
his better thoughts, if, in mv alTair, his jealousy was not too nim • 
hie for his charity. If he can believe me, I should liardly prevail 
with myself to ent'ure the same thought of Dr. Tillotsorj on the 
like occasion, and less to speak of it. For the Roman correspon- 
dence I will freely come to confi'ssioji : I have not only no such 
-thing with any .Tesuit at llonie (Ihough Protestants may have with- 



iG8 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

oTitoffence), but I hold none with any Jesuit, priest, or regular in 
tlie world of that communion. And that the Doctor may see what 
a novice I am in that business, I know not one any where. And 
yet, w hen all this is s;Hd, 1 am a Catholic, though not a Moman. I 
have bowels for mankind, and dare not deny others what I crave 
for myself, I mean liberty of the exercise uf my religion, thinking, 
Faith, Piety, and Providence, a better security than Force ; and 
that if Truth cannot prevail with her own weapons, all others will 
fail her. 

" Now, though I am not <)b!ig€d to this defence, and that it can 
be no temporizing now to make it ; yet that Dr. Tillotson may see 
how much I value his good opinion, and dare own the truth and 
myself at all turns, let him be confident I am no Roman Catholic, 
but a Christian, whose creed ia the Scripture, of the truth of which 
'I hold a nobler evidence than the best Church authority in the 
M'orld ; and yet I refuse not to believe the porter, though [ cannot 
leave the sense to his discretion ; and when 1 should, if he offends 
against those plain methods of understanding God hath made us to 
know things by, and which are inseparable from us, I must beg his 
pardon, as I do the Doctor's, for this length upon t\\e assurance he 
has given me of his doing the like upon better information ; which 
that he may fully have, 1 recommend him to my '• Address to Prot- 
estants" from p. 133 to the end, and to the first four chapters of 
my " No Cross No Crown," to say nothing of our mofit unceremo- 
nious and nnwsrldly wai/ of ivorship and their pompous cult ; 
where at this time 1 shall leave the business with all due and sen- 
sible acknowledgments to thy friendly temper, and assurance of 
the sincere wishes and respects of thy affectionate, re tl Friend, 

" William Penn." 

In the course of this year William Penn was present at two 
public executions ; the one of Gaunt, a female, who was burnt; and 
the other of Cornish. The former was a most amiable woman. She 
had spent her life in doing good, as in visiting the gaols, and in 
looking after the poor of whatever persuasion they were. Out of 
kind feeling to a stranger apparently in distress, she received him 
for a time into her house. He proved to be a rebel ; and because 
she had tlius harboured him she suffered. Cornish had been Sher- 
iff'of London. Two infamous persons. Rumsey and Goodenough, 
had conspired to swear him guilty of that for which the Lord Kus- 
sel had suffered. Whether William Penn was in the habit of at- 
tending spectacles of this kind, I know not. It is a fact, however, 
that men of the most noted benevolence have felt and indulged a 
curiosity of this sort. Tiiey have been worked upon by different 
motives ; some perhaps by a desire of seeing what human nature 

w^ould be at SMch an awful crisis ;• what would be its struggles ; 

what would be the effects of innocence or guilt; what 

would be the power of religion on the mind : what would be the 

influence of particular ten-^ts as to hardened or holy dying.' In 

short, we cannot fathom the motives of men on such occasions, 
and of course we can know nothing for certain of those which in- 
fluenced William Penn. We may say at any rate, that t!ie mourn- 
ful events which took place were extraordinary : and, if I were al- 



or WILLIAM PENS', 1^ 

iowed to conjecture, I should say that he consented to witness tho 
scenes ill questioa with a view to good; with a view of being able 
to make an impression on the King by liis own relation otthingSj 
t!iat he might induce him to withhold his sanction at ;i future time 
to such unjust determinations of the law : and in this conjecture 
I am in some degree bor .e out by a passage in Bishop Burnet'^ 
History of his own Times ; for when lie, the historian, in a convert 
sation with William Penn on the subject of Cornislfs executionj 
said that Cornish asserted his innocence with great vehemence, 
and complained with acrimony of the methods taken to destroy 
him, and that from these circumstances it had been given out that 
he died in a fit of fury; William Penn replied, that '' there ap» 
peared nothing in Cornish's conduct at the place of execution hut 
a just indignation that innocence might very naturallvgive." This 
was in some measure a censure upon the King, who had confirmed 
the bloody sentence: hut he went further : for immediately aff 
ter this he observed to Burnet, that '■ the Kinji was much to be 
pitied, who was hurried into all this effusion of blood hv Jefferies* 
impetuous and cruel temper :" and he added, that " if the Kin-i'* 
own inclinations had not been biassed that vvay. and if his priests 
had not thought it the interest of their party to let that butcher 
loose by whom so many men tliat were like to oppose them were 
put out of the way. it was not to he imajiinfd that there would have 
been such a run of barbarous cruelty, and that in so many in* 
stances." 

With respect to America, he had received since his residence in 
England several letters, both priv.ite and official, from that quar- 
ter. He was pleased to find that tlie ntenihers of his own Society 
had conducted themselves gene' ally well, and t' at thev ''ad en- 
deavoured to promote one of his favourite objects. Thev had 
been careful to prevent the introduction of strung liquors among 
the Indians, and they had lield several reliiiious meetings with 
them. The Indians, it appears, generally heard with patience 
what was said to them at these times, and seemed affected by it; 
but the impression was not durable. These efforts, however, were 
very pleasing to one who knew well that every work must have a 
beginning, and that the best could not be brought to perfectioa 
without perseverance. 

As to the other intelliffence contained in these letters, it was far 
from agreeable. Indeed it gave him great uneasiness. We may 
judge of the nature of it from some of his answers to Thomas 
Llovd,the President of his Council, which have been preserved. 
Hi» insisted upon it. that the number of ordinaries or drinking- 
houses should be immediatelv reduced, and this without respect of 
persons, those only being allowed to continue them who had given 
proofs of their fitness for the situation by t'-ei"- conduct. All per- 
sons also, who had made the C"ves in the bank of the river before 
mentioned receptacles for improper company, were forthwith to 
be ordered to get up their houses elsewhere. The above Cave* 
were to be reserved, when empty, for the accommo<lation of such 
poor families as might 2.0 <tver. He deprecated the heavv char!:e8 
to which individuals had been subjected during his absence for the 
X 



170 MiMonis or th« lifb 

title to their lands. " it is an abominable thin*," aays lie, " t» 
have three warrants for one purchase. It is oppression, which my 
soul loathes. I do liereby require that P, L, he calleil to account 
for req lests and w:ifran^!< for l\),vn-lot. Liberty-iot and thf rest 
of the purchase. ^V'liy not ine warrant for all, at least for Liber- 
ty-lot and the rem under ? Tiiis is true and right oppression. Be- 
sides, several things and su us are set down, which are neither in. 
Law nor in my Regulations." He was displeased also with T. 
Holme for imprope: char ^es in his <lepartment. He instructed the 
President to spe ik earnestly to him of the reports that ha<l coma 
over of his di-inkini^ collations, by which he felt himself much dis- 
tressed and his G ivernment dishimoured. A bill of twelve pounds 
had been sent in to a purchaser of land for expenses incurred in 
this minner. Tds s nr, t>i;ether with the charge for the survey, 
am )'inted to one quarter of the whole purchase o!" the land. But, 
above all, he was grieved to diid that animosities had begun to 
creep in on the scor*^ o^*' G tvernment. •' i am sorry at heart," 
says he, " for these. Cannot m )re friendly and private courses 
betaken to set m itters rig'it in ,>,i infnnt Province, whose steps are 
Bumbere ' and ivatch ?d ? iL^ eiitr'ati^l t'lem, for the love of God, 
of himself, and the porr country, t at thev won d not he so open in 
their ilissatisfactions " Havin*; (explained his mind in these par- 
tic'il-irs, he held out tlie expect.ition, that, if not prevented, he 
should return to Pennsylvania and resume the Government in the 
c urse of the next fall. 

It appears, from the above extracts, that he had not long left the 
colony before it fell into r'isorder ; which shows how much his 
presence had been the life and supoort of it. And this disorder, 
which be'Tin with one or two individuals .)f looser character, spread 
to the bodies oolitic. The \ss->mbly, where the animosities above 
menfioned fust showed themselves, proceeded so far as to impeach 
one of their members, and to -irrest another. Having done this, 
thev in^trucfed their Sneaker Jo!in Wh'te to inform the Governor 
of t!\e f rt: which he di I ii the fofhrwing letter: 

" M )Sr RXCKLLRVT (ioVEUNOR, 

'• We. thii Free n'^!x <>^ the Province of Pennsylvania and Terri- 
tones. do. \vith unfeign<^d love ti» vour person and government, 
with all due respect acquaint vou. that we have this last day of our 
session passed all such B'Ps as we judged meet to pass into Laws, 
and imoeache I Nicholas Moore, a member of the Assembly, of ten 
articles CO itai ling divers high crin-^s and misdemeanours, and, in 
tbepresnc" >*" the P'-es'ideut and Provincial Council, made very 
clear n'-oo^ o^the said a-ticl'^s. 

a \yi^ have had the pe-'son of Patrick Robinson under restraint 
for divers insol;ncies and aT-vi+s t> t!ie Assenblv :— — but there 
was a 'dght and good understanding betw'xt the President, Coun- 
cil, and \ssemhly, an I a h ipiiy and f iendlv farewell. 

"D^ar and hon )ured Sir, the honour of G).l. the love of vour 
person, an I thenre^e.-vition »f the o^ace and welfare of the Gov- 
cnnient, were, we hone, the on'v centre to which all our actions 
did tend. And aIthou,rh the visdom of the .\ssembly thought fit 
to humble that aspiring and corrupt minister of state NicholaF 



«F WILLIAM PENW. Ifl 

liloorc, yet to you, dear Sir, and to the happy success of your af- 
fairs, our hearts are open, and our hands ready at all times 1o sub- 
ecribe ourselves, in the name of ourselves and all the Freemen we 
represent, 

" Your ohedient and Faithful Freemen. 

*• John White, Speaker." 

" P. S. Honoured Sir, We know your wisdom and jioociness will 
make a candid construction of ail our actions, and that it shall be 
out of the power of malicious tonj:;ues to sepaiate betwixt our Gov- 
ernor and his Freemeti, wli<» extremely long for your presence, 
and speed V arrival of your person " 

This It'tter, though it had the appearance of being both aifection- 
ate and resftectful, was yet the cause of great uneasiness to v^ jl, 
liaui Penn : for Mooie had conducted himseKsit well, not only as 
a private man, but in his office as President of the free Society of 
Tiaders of Pennsylvania, that the Governor had made him one of 
the Provincial Judges before his depaiture for En<>land. as waa 
r>pntioned in the last chapter. He feared therefore that the pub- 
lic d'Sgrace brouglit upon him might lessen the vveiglit and cbarac- 
te'-ofrlie ma,'i;i'^tracv. He believed too, that Mnore had been far 
to;) rij:id!y dealt with, the reputed misdemeanours being of a po* 
litical and not of a moral nature ; and believing this, he fore* 
saw t'iat he shonb' be oblijzed to signify bis opinion to the Assem* 
biy,by which the first stone woild he cast, as it were, for at leait 
a temporary disagreement between them. 



■ -*»' 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Jl. 1686 — cry of Vapiat and Jesuit continupd— -further eorrespon*^ 

deuce hetiveen him and Tiilofson on the subject — 'Wrves " Afuvi 
ther Account of Pennsylvania^'''— also " »^ Defence of the iHilce 
of Huckinghani'^ — also '• A Persuasive to Moderations^ — con' 
tents of the latter — proclnmstinn for religious indulgence fol- 
lows —'i^^oes to Holl.ind on a r'^ligious errand — but undertakes a 
commission from the Kins: to the Prince of Orange — meets Scotch 
fugitives there— 'his services to Sir Robert Steuart — 'travels as a 
preacher in England — ajf'iirs of Pennsylvania — displeased ivith 
the conduct of the Assenibly — and also with that of the Council^^, 
alters the Government hy a Cojumission — lodges the Eocecutive 
in five persons— reinstates Moore — copy of the Commission. 

William Penn and Doctor Tillotson had visited each other, 
since t!\e interchange of the letters mentioned in the last chapter, 
in the most friendly manner, the Doctor havirijjheen fully satisfied 
that there vvas no foundation for the charj^e either of Papist or 
Jesuit. Wdliam Penn resided at that time in a house at Charing 
Cross. Since these letters, however, tlie belief that he was of the 
Roman Catholic persuaeioa had not abated in the public miud. On 



ift 



MEM&ins or THE LIFE 



the other band ithad become more general : and as if was stilF in- 
creasing, and seve al continued to use tl.e name of Dr. Tillotson 
to strengthen it. VVdliam Penn tliou:^lit he miu,ht appeal with pro- 
priety to tiie Djctor t'} j;\ve liim a letter, in which he should ex- 
P'v^ss th;it assurance of liis i»\vn convicfiun on t 'is suoject, which 
be had acknowledged in tne friendly intercourse which had takea 
place setvveeo them. F >r doing this a f;ivouiablp opportunity 
otF«^red ; for a letter having been written to William Penn. in 
tv^'iich the !) icti: 's na n • h id been iin'>rop rly used again, he sent 
it inclosed to him In the following short note : 
" Worthy Friend, 

** This should have been a visit ; hut being of opinion that Dr,. 
Tillotson is vet a debto to me in this wav, I chose to provoke him 
to another le*^ter hv this, befire t made him me : for thoui>;h lie was 
Tery just and oblii>;ing vvlien I last saw him, vet certainly no ex= 
pression. however kindly spoken' will so easily and effectually 
^ur>;e me from the unjust imputation some people cast upon me in 
his niniiN as his own letter will do. The wed of this he will bet- 
ter see when he has re id the inclosed, which coining; to hand since 
niv last. is. I presume, enough to justify this address, if 1 had no 
fo»-mer pret-^nsions. A -id thpiefoi-e I cannot be so wanting to my- 
self, as not to press him to a letter in mv just defence, nor so un- 
€ha>itable to him as to think he should not frankly write what he has 
said, when it is to ri'j:ht a man*s reputation and disabuse the too cr e- 
dul ous world. For to me it seems f'om a private friendship to be- 
come a moral dutv to the public, wliich, with a person of so great 
morality, must give success to the reasonable desire of thy very 
real Friend, 

" William Penn." 

Dr. Tillotson in answer to the above letter expressed himself 
thus : 

" I am very sorry that the suspicion Thad entertained concerning 
you, of which I gave you the tiue account in my finmer letter, hath 
occasioned somuchtrou !c and inconvenience to vou : and 1 do now 
declare with great jo\ . t'at I am fullv satisfied that there was no 
just ground for that suspicion, and therefore do heartily beg your 
pardon for it. And ever since you were pleased to give me t ;at 
satisfaction. I have taken all occasions to vindicate you in this 
tnatter : and shall be readv to do it to the person that sent you the 
inclosed, whenever he will please to come to me. I am very much 
in the count'-v, but will seek the first opportunity to visit you at 
Charing Cross, and renew our acquiintance, in which 1 took great 
pleasure. I rest your faithful Friend, 

** Jo. Tillotson." 

This I<»tte'- was very satisfactory to William Penn, and he show- 
ed it to great advanta::e whenever Dr. Tillotson had been quoted 
as eithpp believing or promoting the report. In the mean time 
he had been diligently employed as an author, 'f'he first fruits of 
his labour in tins department were " A further Account of Penn- 
sylvania" This was f)l lowed by a publication of a very different 
sort. The Duke of Buckingham had written a book in favour of 



OF WILLIAM PENS. tT$ 

liberty of con<!c.iencp, for w'tich lie had long heen a known advo- 
cate An ano'ivtiHUis writer had attiMTifted to answer it, and in 
tl;is answer had leHi^cted upon the Duke, hy staying that •' the 
Pennsvlvanian had entei *^d him with his Quakeri^tical doctrine." 
Tliis second r-iihlicatioti t' en by William Penn was " A Deience 
/ of the Duke of Buckingham's Book from the Kxce|;tions of a name- 
'' less Author " 8oon after this he ushered into tl.e world a tliird 
M'ork. called "A Feisuasive to Moderation to dissenting Chris- 
ihin-;, in Prudence and Conscience, humhiy submitted to the King 
and his gre 't Council." 

As the'* Persuasive to Moderation'' was designed to produce an 
effect on the rulers of t"'e land in favour of religious toleration j 
and as the arguments contained in it may he supposed to be im- 
poitarit on that account: and as t!ie said arguments, if well found- 
ed, will alwavs carry their weight with them in similar circum- 
stances and cases; 1 shall stop awhile to submit them to tiie ton* 
2iderati(»n,of the leader. 

William Penn, after a proper introductory epistle, reduced the 
objections to r<"ligious Toleration, which weie tl;en afl at, to the-e 
two points. First, " Toleration, say some, of Dissenting worsh.ips 
from the Established one is not practicable without dan>;er to tlie 
State, witli vvhic'' it is interwoven." This is political. J'econdly^ 
"Admitting Dis-ien'ers to bein the wrong (which is alwavs premised 
h"^ t:.e National t I U'ch) such latitude, that is. t.'letation to them, 
w u'dbe the wavto keepupfht disunion, and would, instead of com- 
pelling t em into a better wav, le;ve them in the possession and 
pursuit of t!)eir old errors." This is religious. 

After certain observations he took up t':e first objection. He de- 
nied that toleration endangered any State. '• For this my opin- 
ion," says he, " we have the first and last, the best and greatest 
evidence, which is fact and experience, the wisdom of sages, and 
the journal and resolves of time. 

" For, first, tlie Jews, who had the most to sav for their Religion 
and whose Religion was twin to t'^eir State (botli beinj; enjoined 
and sent with wonders from Heaven) indulged strangPfS in their 
re(ia;\mifi dissniK They required but tiie !)elie^" of the Noac liical 
principles, wliich were common to the world. J\r-> idolntev, and 
but a mornl mnUy and he had h'm liherti/, axe, and some privileges 
too : for be had an apartment in the Temple, an<l this without dan- 
ger to the Government. Thus Maimonides. and others oi tiieir 
own rabbies, and Gn>t'ous out of tliem. 

" The wisdom of the Gentiles was also very admirable in th'S, 
that though thev had many sects of philosophers amony; them, each 
dissenting from the other in tlieir moral r>:inciples, as well as dis- 
cipline: vet thev indulged them and the best livers with singular 
kindness, the greatest Statesmen and ("apt rns often becoming pat- 
trons of the sects thev best affected, honoMiinv: their readings with 
their presence and applause So far were those ages, w'ich wc 
have made as the origi'al of wisdom and politeness, from tlink- 
in<i; Toleration an error of State, or dan",erous to the Government. 
Thus Plutarch, Strabo, Laettius, and others. 



^74 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

" To these instances I may add the latitude given by the Gov- 
■ernment of old H,()me, t!iat liad almost as many deities as houses : 
for Varro tells us of no less than thirty thousand several sacra or 
religious rites among her people, and yet without a quarrel. Un- 
happy fate of Christianity, the best of relii,ions ! and i/tt hfr (iro- 
fessors mtintain lesf charity than idolatort', ichite it should he pe' 
cuLiiir to :hym. I fear it sitoivft us to have but little nf it at heart. 

'• But nearer home, and in our own time, we sep the effects of a 
discreet indul.ence, even to emulation. Holland, that bog of t!ie 
world, neither sea nor 'and. now the rival of tallest monavc's, not 
fey conquests, marriages or accession of royal blood, ti.e usual ways 
to empire,but bv her own superlative deuinrij and induatry ; for 

the one was the i-ff'^ct of the oth>'r ; /tf cherished her people^ tv'iat- 

ever were their opinions, as the reasonable stock of Vie country^ the 
beads and hands of her trade and wealth ; and making them easy 
ill the main point, their co7iriences^ she became great by them. 
This made her fill with people, and they filled her in return with 
rich es and strenjith." 

After the men'ion of Holland, he proceeded to an argument 
which he supposed might be drawn against his conclusions with re- 
spect to that country: namely, tliat though his position might be 
true in a comm tnwenlth, where every individual thouy;ht he had a 
share in the Government, it might not be so in a monarchic;il state. 
In reply to this he maintained, that almost every aj^e of monnrchy 
aifonled a cloud of witnesses, tiat religious toleration was no snore 
dangerous in th's than in the other case. To confirm this he quot- 
ed the conduct of Israel, which he called the m ist exact and sa- 
cred pattern of monarchy ; that of Ahasuerus to Mordecai and the 
Jews ; that of Augustus, who sent hecatombs to Jerusalem ; that of 
Jovianus, who settled tlie most embroiled time of the Christian, 
world even to a miracle, bringing by one single act of religious 
Toleration unitv to the state: that of Valentinian. Gratia", and 
Theodosius the Great. From thence he took a survey of the con- 
duct of rulers in succeeding times, such as the Kings of Poland and 
of Denmark, of the Dukes of ^avoy and of Newhurgb, of the Elec- 
tors of Brandenhurgh and of Saxony, and of several others exer- 
cisin<j; sovereiu;n power, to the same end. 

But he not only tlnis combated the argument against his own po- 
sition, but he advanced two ot'e'S : first, that more evils bad be- 
l"all>»n Princes living in conntr']('s where all conformed, or whmcere 
under ecclesiastical ujiion,t^>Sin in those living under divided formi 
of ^overnmen^ where Toleration was allowed : and. secondiv, that 
in those countries where men were tolerated in their reliuion, and 
where such evils had taken place, the Conformist was not lesscul- 
p'tble than th" Vissenter. Of these positions I have only room to 
observe, that he endeavoured to substantiate them by an appeal to 
history, drawing apnosite instances from it as the case required. 

Having finished this topic, he proceedeii to show both the prUi 
dence and reasonableness ofreliuiious Toleration. by the great hen-r 
efits which would follow it. Among other arguments, — such as 
that property would be more secure, and that subjects would te 



• F WILLIAM PENW. 1TS> 

iiiore industrious, flourishing, satisfied nnd happy, lie cotitendecf^ 
as ni> trifling aiklitiotm! argument, ti.at tl e Prihce would in that 
case have the lienefit, not of a part only, but ot his whole people. 
" As things then stood, Vo Churchman me'Oi* .Yo Englishman, and 
J^o I'oninrmist nifant JVo '^ubjpct. Thus (sa\s ht) it may happen, 
that the ah'ey' statesman, the bravest capiain, and the best citizen 
may he disabled, and the Frtnce forbid their i-mpioymeni to his 
service. 

" r ome instances," says he, ' we have had since the late King's. 
Rpstoi-atioii : tor, upon ti:e first Dutch war, my father leiiig com- 
manded to give in a list of the ablest sea officers in the kingdom to 
serve in that expedition, I do very well renieml^er he presented 
our present King with a catalogue of the knowingest and bravest 
officers the age had bred, witli this subscrilieti, ' J]s to these men, if 
His .Majesty icill please to admit of their jjersnasions. J will answer 
for their skill, courage, and inte;irif>;.^ He picker! them hy their 
ability and not by their opinions: and he was in the riuht, for that was 
the best way of doing the King's business. And of my own know- 
ledge Conformity robbed the King at t'iat time of ten men. whose 
greater knowledge and valour, than any one ten of that fleet had 
in their room, would have saved a battle or perfected a victory. I 
■will name three oft'iem. The first was old Vice-admiral Good* 
son, than whom nobody was more stout or more a seaman. The 
second was Captain Hill, that in the Sapphire beat -Admiral Ev- 
erson hand to hand, who came to the relief of old Trump. The 
third was Captain Potter, that in the Constant Warwick took Captain 
Beach after eigl-t hours smart dispute. And as evident it is, that 
if a war had proceeded between this kingdom and France seven 
years ago, the business of Conformity had deprived the King of 
many land officers whose share in the late wars of Europe had made 
them knowing and able." 

After dwelling for some time upon tl^e advantages likely to re» 
suit from Toleration, he proceeded thus '* But I know it will be 
insinuated, that there is danger in building upon the union of di- 
vers interests. Rut T will only oppose to that mere suggestion 

three examples to tlie contrary, with this challenge, that if, after 
rummaging the records of all time, they fnd one in-^tance to con* 
tradict we, I shall siihmit the question !o their authority. 

" The first is .ivenby those Christian Emperors who admitted 
all sorts of Dissenters into their armies, courts, and senates. This 
the ecclesiastical history ©f those times assures us, and particular- 
ly Socrates, Evagrius. and Onuphrius. 

" The next instance is tliat of Prince William of Orarge, wh» 
by a timelv indulgence united the scattered strength of Holland, 
bv w'-ich all. animated by the clemency as well as valour of their 
Captain, contributed to crown his attempts with an extraordinary 
glorv ; and what makes, continues great. 

" The last is given us bv I.ivv in his account of Hannibal's ar- 
my, that tiiey consisted of divers nations, customs, lanjuajes. and 
religions: that under all their successes of war and peace for thir- 
teen years tojiether, thev never mutinied against their General, 
.lor fell out among themselves. What Livy relates for a wooder 



%76 MEMOIRS OF THB LIPtt 

the Marquis Virgilto Malvetzy gives the reasoti of, to yv'xU their 
variety and diffidence well managed by their iieneviU : ' Fur,' said 
he, ' it was impossible for s > nwiiy nations, custuin-, ami religion? 
to combine, esjjecially when ihe General's equ;il Uaml gave himi 
more reverence with tiiem tban they batl of affection fur une anoth- 
er. This,' savs lie, * some would wliollj impute to Hannibal ; but, 
however great be was, 1 attribute it to the vasiety of people in 'lie 
army ; fi)r,' ailHs he, " Home's army was ever less given to nuitiiy 
when balancet! with auxiliary legions than when entiiely Roman.' 
So far Mulvetzy. I his argument he concluded by an appeal to 
nature He considered tie natural w(»rld as full of di-icordant 
things ; but yet Providence by bis <»vvn all -wise disposition batl so 
brought them together, as to produce the most fterfect liarmony. 
In like manner iie believed t at the concord of discords affoi'ded a 
firm basis for Civil Government. The business was to tunc these 
rftscorrfs w?//, and that could be done by one who was a skilful 
musician." 

The last argument which he advanced on this sul^ject. was the 
experiment made at home by the late King in bis Heclaration of 
Indulgence to tender consciences in matters of religion, which came 
out in the yiar 1671. a-* mentioned in a former c'.ai ter In speak- 
ing of the happy effect of this experimef)t,lie writes thus: " White- 
hall then and St. Jasues' «ere as 'uuch visite I and courted bv the 
Dissenters and their respective agents, as ii they had been of the 
family ; for, that which eclipsed the royal goodness being by his 
own hand thus removed, his benign influences drew t' e returns of 
sweetness and duty from that part of his subjects which the want 
of those influences had made barren before. Then it was that we 
looked like the meml)ersof one family, and children of one parent; 
nor ilid we envy o>\v eldest brother E;)iscopacv bis inheritance, so 
that we had but a child's po'tion. For not only discontent-s van- 
ished, but ni» matter was left for ill spirits, foreiiirn or domestic to 
bro id upon or hatch to mischief; which was a plain proof, that it 
in the union of interes's. and nut of .j/^fwiVms, tiiat gives peace to 
kingdoms." .Such a Declaration of Indulgence he hoped would 
be made again. He saw no other way of putting an end to civil 
animosities. '* whiet<, hv fresh accidents fallingin had swelled to a 
mighty deluge, such an one as *ad overwhelmed our former civil 
concord and security. And nardon me (savs be") if I sav, I can- 
not see that those wa^ers are likely to assuatre. till this olive-branch 
of indulgence be s<mie wav or ot'''er restored. The waves will 
still cover our earth, and a sp )t of earth will hardiv be found in 
this our glorious isle f)r a great nutnber of useful people to set a 
quiet foot upon. And. to pursue t'le allegory, what was the ark 
itself but the most apt and liv.dv emblem of Toleration .'^ a kind 
of natural temple of indulirence. in hicb we find two of every liv- 
ing creature dwelling to^^ether, of bof i sexes too. that they might 
propagate, and that as wpH of the vnchan as of the cl^an kind, so 
that the baser and les< useful sort were sfli-.c?." 

With respect to the stcond ohjection. namelv, that " admitting 
Dissenters to be in the wronii. (wliich was alwavs premised by the 
National Church,) such latitude were the way to keep up the dis- 



" utnoH ? and, instead of Goinpelliiiii th«m to a better way, to ]«av* 
tlietn in the p«)ssessi;)ii and pursuit of their old errors." i have n« 
room to state tlie arguments which he advanced ag; inst it ; nor is 
it necessary that I should, because every person thinking liberally 
will be able to furnish the answer, without any hesitation, from tii« 
own mind. 

The above is tlie substance, though on a liniitea scale, of the 
*' Persuasive to Moderation." which, when it caine out, was said 
to have had a considerable eft'ect both upon the King and his ('oun* 
«il ; for very soo'! aftt*r its appearance in public a proclamatioa 
was issued by the former for ii general pardon to al those w'la 
were then in orison on ace mnt <»f their consciences. Instructions 
wet e accord inu;ly given to the Judg(^s of Assize to liberate in their 
several circiits all persons of this description. The result was, 
that of tli"^ Qu ikers only, not less than fivelve liitndi-cd pemonf 
were reston^d t;) their fan^ilies and friends, many of v^hom had 
been in confinement for \ ears. Thiit this happy event might hav« 
sprung in part, or. as far as the Council had any hand in it, from 
the " Persuasive to Vloxleration." as was t'len believed bv many, 
is not improbable: but certain it is, as farastlie King was concern- 
ed, that i was to be ascribed in a great measure to the personal 
solicitations (»f VVilliaui Penn. There is no douht i)nt he bad h-^en 
previously influenced to it in consequence o^the manv conve'«a» 
tions which the former had hehl with him on tl.is suhj^'ct : uliile h« 
resided at Kensington : durinu; which he -lev^'r lost si^^ht of the 
great object which he bad left iiis own Government to pro note. 
By Mieans of these, he had opportunities oftinfol iing m ich more 
to the Kin* on this subject than the '■ Pe>sua-!ive to Mode'atioii'* 
itself contained ; of arLniing the case with him ; and of eiir»foi-io« 
his arguments by bringing to view the most affecting cases of indi- 
vidual suffe>ing. and by paint-ngthe miserv and wretchedness of 
the victims themselves, and the distress and ruin of their nearest 
and dearest connections, whom they were no longer able to corn- 
fort and support. These opportunities he 'ised for this purpose j 
and it is highly to his honour, as ! have had occasion to obse-v© 
before, that, when his most eariKst entreaties were pou-ed forth ift 
behalf of the members of his own religious Society, thev were .-x- 
tended for all others of his counti-vmen. of whatever religious de* 
nomination, who were sufferin;*; fnun t'le same cause. 

VV^illiam Penn. havinij witnessed the happv eftVcts of this n'oc- 
lamation. determined unoi a tour to the Cimtinent to visit the 
churches there, and to diffuse the principles o^ his o,vn relig 019 
Society yet furt'^er in these parts. The King, learnini;; his in'^en^' 
tion.gave him acomfnission, which he was to exec te in his war. 
He was to go to the Has;ue, and there confer with the Prince of 
Orange, and endeavour to ijain his ccmsent to a s^t^tiernl ^'edsrion^ 
Toleration in England, together until ttxe removal 0^ all Test<t \t 
has been usually supposed, that, when the King wished for ToIe» 
ration to his subjects, he had it principally in v ew to ease his fa- 
Yourites the Roman Catholics, knowing thnt. if" a ^.reneial la i werq 
made to that effect, thev would feel the benf^its >r it in common 
^i^ others, and that it was on their account solely that lie w»t rfe* 



178 aiBMOIRS 07 THE MF£ 

sirous of the measure. William Penn was not of this opinion. -K 
vas his firm belief, that, though James the Second was himself « 
Papist, he was jet a friend to religious liberty. But whether this 
his belief was correct or not, the commission given him bj the King 
was so congenial to his own principles and feelings, that he joyfully 
undertook it. Accordingly, when he went to the Continent, h© 
went first to tne Hague^ where he had several interviews with tho 
Prince on the subject. At this time Burnet the historian was at tho 
same court, endeavouringto prevail upon the Prince to give his sanc- 
tion to a Toleration in England^ but not to the removal of Tests. 
Here he and William Penn met. They spent several hours together 
in conversing upon the point in question. Williau) Penn would not 
relax in the least. If Tests were to be a security for Toleration, 
they were unnecessary, because, if Dissenters conducted them- 
selves unconstitutionally, they would come within the reach of 
the laws. This perseverance irritated Burnet. Indeed Burnet 
was not well disposed to him before, believing him to be a Papist, 
if not a Jesuit. But now he was prejudiced against him, so that 
he never mentioned him afterwards but coldly, or sneeringly, or ia 
a way to lower him In the estimation of the reader, whenever h© 
had occasion to speak of him in the History of his own Times. 

While William Penn was executing his commission, he found aa 
intr«duction to several persons, hoth Kaglish and Scotch, who had 
fled their country on account of persecution for their religion, and, 
among others, to one to whom it is said he rendered important ser-r 
vice afterward. The service alluded to is explained by the Earl 
of Buchan, in his lives of Fletcher of Saltoun and Thompson, in 
whose words I shall relate it. In the year 1686, " when the busi- 
ness of the Test was in agitation, William Penn was employed at 
the Court (»f Holland to reconcile the Stadtholder to the views of 
his father-in-law. Peon became acquainted with most of the Scotch, 
fugitives, and, among the rest, with Sir Robert Steuart of Coltness, 
and his brother James, who wrote the famous answer to Fagel ; and 
finding that the violence of their zeal reached little further than 
the enjoyment of their religious liberty, on his return to London 
he advised the measure of an indemnity and recall to the persecut- 
ed Presbyterians who had not been engaged in treasonable acts of 
opposition to the Civil Government. Sir Robert availed himself 
of this indemnity to return to his own country ; but found his es- 
tate, and only means of subsi'<tance, in the possession of the Earl 
of Arran, afterwards Duke of Hamilton. Soon after his com- 
ing to JiOndon he met Penn, who congratulated him on his being 
just about to feel experimentally the pleasure so beautifully express- 
ed by Horace of the mihi me reddentis agelli.' Coltness sighed, 
and said, ' Ah ! Mr. Penn, Arran has got my estate, and I fear my 

situation is about to be now worse than ever.' ' What dost 

thou say P says Penn : ' thou surprisest and grievest me exceed* 
ingly. Come to my house to-morrow, and I will set matters to right 
for thee.' 

" Penn went immediately to Arran. ' What is this, friend 
James,' said he to him, ' that I hear of thee ? Thou hast taken posi 
session ef Godtness's estate. Thou knowest that it isnot i/»««.'— — » 



•F WILLIAM FEUKi tf^ 

• That estate,' said Arran, ' I paid a great price for. I received no 
other reward for my expensiveand troublesome embassy in Franca 
except this estate ; and I am certainly much out of pocket by th« 
fcargain.' 

" ' All very well, friend James,' said the Quaker ; ' but of this 
assure thyself, that if thou dost not give me this moment an order 
on thy chamberlain for two hundred pounds to Coltness to carry 
him down to his native country, and a hundred a-year to subsist on 
till matters are adjusted, i will make it as many thousands out of 
thy way with the King.' Arran instantly complied, and Pena 
sent for Sir Robert and gave him the security. After the Revolu- 
tion Sir Robert, with the rest, had full restitution of his estate ; 
and Arran was obliged to account for all the rents he had received, 
against which this payment only was allowed to be stated. Thi» 
authentic particular I received from my illustrious uncle, the lata 
Sir James Steuart Denham, father of the present worthy member 
for Clydesdale." 

Having left the Hague, he proceeded to Amsterdam to promote 
the object for which he had originally come into these parts. Here 
he visited the members of his own religious Society, and used oc- 
casionally his gift as a minister of the Gospel. While here he was 
at the house of William Sewel,a man of great learning, who wrot« 
afterwards the History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress of the 
People called Quakers. Sewel was at this time translating his 
Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, and his No Cross No 
Crown, into the Belgic language. They had before known each 
other, and had corresponded together. This corrcbj.ondence, which 
was conducted in Latin, was afterwards continued. I have had 
access to a part of it, and shall find it useful as I proceed in my 
work. 

From Amsterdam he pursued his travels in the ministry, direct- 
ing his course to Utrecht ; but we know nothing after this of the 
particular places which he visited. All we know is, that he extended 
his journey to Germany, and that he was satisfi^ed with the result 
of it ; for, in a letter which he wrote to one of his friend* in America 
after his return from it, he says, in his usual way of speaking on such 
occasions, that " lie had had a blessed service for the Lord." 

On his arrival in England he proceeded directly to Worming- 
hurst. But here he did not remain long. The same cause which 
had occasioned him to go into Holland and Germany impelled him 
to travel over a considerable part of his native land. He visited 
Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Staftbrdshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, 
Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the counties of Westmoreland and 
Durham. In all these he laboured in the vineyard of the Gospel ; 
and it appears that he was equally satisfied with this as with his 
foreign journey, thankfully confessing that "the Lord had beea 
with him at this season, in a sweet and melting life, to the great 
joy of himself and refreshment of his friends." 

Having now traced his movements for the year, as far as they 
appear to be known in Europp, it will be proper to see how his 
American concerns went on f<»r the same period. And, first, it 
appears by a letter dated Worminghurst, addressed to Thomas 



^^ ^etfOIKS t>F TBS lIFE 

Lloyd, "the President of his Council, to have been bis opinion thnk 
the Ass-miilv had conducted theinselvj's ras'ily, both in t ^ case 
«f Patrick Robins.Mi and Nicholas Moore, as mentioned in the l;st 
chapter. " 1 rejoice," says he, •' that God has preserved ;>^>Lif 
fce.iitb so well, and that his blessings are upon the eartii, hut grit- v- 
ed at the boHom of my lieart for tne hea^s and disordeis a..ion>, the 
toeople.' ■ -This qua'rel about -the Free Society of Traders' ha« 
ftiade \our great g-ins heard hitlser. 1 blame nothing, nor the iSo- 
Cietv liere to he sure; but 1 vvi>^h N. Mooie an-l P Knbiuson could 
have been softe.e'l, and tNat.J Claypoole had been more coitij?os- 

«d. t may he a mighty politic;* I u-ce, but it is not a moral one. 

» . 1 entreat thee to cunsiiler of tli.- tiue reason of our uohappi- 
pess, of t'i'at side (Pennsylvania), among our ma istrates. Is it 
not tlieir self-value h - - ■ Men sliouid he meek, iiumble, grave. 
Tl'is draws reveience and love taget er. This wise an<l good 
TOen will do. is anv one out t»f tiie way .^ They should not so 
much look at his infiimities, as take care i' ey are not also over- 
taken i; eyeing how many good quahties the offender has to serve 
4'e public, and not cast a whole apple away for one side being de- 
•fective." 

By two letters written subsequetitly, dated London, one of them 
4o t!ip before-menti:>ned Thomas Lloyd, and the other to James 
ilarf ison. his ^ ent fo'- the estate and manor of Pennsbury, it ap- 
peal's tl^at he had serious cause to he grieved on otlver accounts, 
fie complained that tl»e Provincial I ouncil had nt*u;lected atid 
islighted his letters ; tliat he had relivio^jslv consecrated his labour, 
4iut that it was neither valued nor understoo«l bv them ; tlnit th^y 
iiad con(!u'ted themselves in such a manner in other respects as to 
Jiave forfeited tl-.eir Chatt«r over and over again, if be had chosen 
to take advantajie of it : and that they bad entirelv neglected the 
supply which t'ley had promised him. On th.is latter subject he 
^descended to natticulars. He stated "that his quit-rents were 
then at least of t'e val'^e of five hundre<l pounds a year, and then 
ilue, though he could not get a penny. God is my witness," say* 
iie, " I lie not. I am above six thousand pounrls out of pocket* 
linore than ever I saw by the Province : and you may throw^ in my 
pains, cares, and hazard of life, and leaving of my family and 
friends to serve them." 

From the same letters it may be collected, that be began to be 
«mbarrassed for want of remittan- es from America, — so that, 
itboujrh it was his intention to have returned there in the autumn of 
•the present year, be was prevented in some measure fi om so doing 
On this account. He 'eclared that the neglectof the supply, which 
the (\>uncil had promised him in consequence of his great expense 

* We may now estimate the sjicrifices of WilHain Penn. If bis quit-rents 
j(|ai'\unted to 500/ per annum, he mus» have sold one million acres of land, for 
w'Mfh. accordin;' to the terms of sale, he must have receivtd 20,000/. To this 
^dd the 6000/. now mentioned, and he must have spent 2fi,000/. upon the Prov- 
ince, in prespiitsto t\v Indians, in re-purchases oftlieland from these, mthemain- 
tenance of O v. rrrnent and Govf-rnor, ajld IR Other public flutters ; » 6unB U?? 
mmti 9\iOTt of lOO^d/. »n these daye. 



«H afeotinf of the Province, was one cause rrhuh kep* hxm from 
Pennsylvania ; adtiiuji, '• tiiat he would not spend Ins private estate 
to disc aige a pulilic sti.tion." 

By an'i'l.er K'ttei-, written afterwards to James Harrison, his 
Agent, all tiie ahove paiticulars ire eonfirmed. •' Besides." says 
he, ■■ tliat tie country tldiik not of niv 8U|)|>L,(and ' res«)lve never 
to act the Go> erniH', and keep anoflier la;nily and capacity on Mny 
private estate,) if my tible, cellar, an I staMe may l*e pmvided f(»r, 
with a barge and yacht, or sloop, fur the service of Governor and 
Government, I may ti' to get hence ; ;or in the sight of God ! arn 
sixt ousand pounds and mo; e behind-hand more than ever I re- 
ceived or saw for land in tliat Province Tliere is nothing my 

et'iil breathes in< re for ii this woild.ne?.tinv fiear<an!i!y'- life.t' aa 

that i ay see poor hrrmsylvani" again but I cannot forcft 

mv way hence, and ^ee not'iinj; dotie (m that side invitinji; " 

To remedv the'^e and i-i or in;it*ers. it :ip|jea!S that, after I avin§ 
taken ii'tc C'-nsidi lotion t' <- conduct of the ("ouncil. he resolved, 
th )uuh they l^ad foifeite<l t'' ir Charter.to let them remain as such j 
but he would no longer allow them to have als > t!ie executive pow- 
er in their hands. One rea'^on of t. eir tardities^ and negligence he 
conceived mi^Ll be their number, great bodies heing more unwieU 
dv and moving with lesscele?ity t! an smaller. Hedeteimined 
therefore to reduce the Kxecuti\e to five persons, and ma«'e out a 
fi'esh Commissior acconiingly. (onsiderinj; fiat Nic' olas !Moor« 
had heen unjustly treated by the Assemhiy. who had ren)Oved him 
from his high situation as a Provinciid Judge, he took this oppor- 
tunity of re[airir!g t! e injury by ajpoii ting h m one of the iievr 
Commisiri'^'ners. ! his step v^as particularly hoiMmrahle to W\\» 
liatii Penn. as it could only have proceeded from his love of justice, 
^Nicholas Moore !!ev r ha\ing belonged toti e Society of the Qua- 
kers. !t vv.'s a step. t'H». particularly hold, when we consider the 
iinputrttion it thiew upon the Assembly, ar.d t' e clamour it vould 
be likely to pioduce against hiuistlf. Bold l,ovvever as it was, he 
V iit'ned \\]Hi) it: and -^icholas Moore n<ver disgraced his ap- 
pointment, continuing in ii with honour for the remainder of hit 
life. The following is a copv of the Commission; 
" VA iLLiAM Penn. 
" Proprietor- and Governor. 

*' To my trusty and well-beloved Friends. Thomas Lloyd. Nich- 
olas Moore. James Claypocde, Rol^ert Turner, and John 
F.ckley, or anv three of them, in Philadelphia. 

" Trusty and well-beloved ! I heartilv salute you. Lest any 
should scruple the termination of President Idovd's Commission 
with his place in the Provincial Council, and to the en<\ th;it there 
may he a more constant residence of the honorary and governing 
part of the Government, f»u- 1! e keepinv all things in good order. I 
nave sent a fresh Commission of Deputation to vou, making any 
three of you a Quorum, to act in the execution of the La\\s.enact- 
inir, disannulling, or varyimr of Laws, as if f myself were there 
present ; reservinsr to mvseU" the confirmation of what is done, add 
my {,eculiar royalties and advantao^es. 

" Fi; st. You are to oblige the Provincial Council to their Char- 
ter-attendance, or to take such a Council as jou tlauk convenient 



182 &ISM0IR3 OF THE LIFE 

fo advise and assist you in the business of the public ; for 1 will n4r 
Inore endure their slothful and dishonourable attendance, but dis- 
solve the Frame without any more ado. Let them look to it, if any 
further occasion be given. 

" Secondly, That you keep to the dignity of your station, both 
in Council and out, but especially that you sufter no disorder in 
the Council, nor the Council and Assembly, nor either of them, to 
entrench upon the powers and privileges remaining yet in me. 

" Thirdly, That you admit not any parleys or open conferences 
between the Provincial Council and Assembly ; but let one, with 
your approbation, propose, and let the other consent or dissent, 
according to the Charter. 

*' Fourthly, That you curiously inspect the past proceedings of 
both, and let me know in what they have broken the bounds or ob- 
ligations of the Charter. 

" Fifthly, That you this very next Assembly General declare 
my abrogation of all that has been done since my absence; 
and so of all the Laws but the Fundamentals ; and that you imme- 
diately dismiss the Assembly and call it again ; and pass such of 
them afresh, with such alterations as you and they shall see meet; 
and this to avoid a greater inconveniency, which I foresee, and 
formerly communicated to Thomas Lloyd. 

" Sixthly, Inspect the qualifications of members in Council and 
Assembly, and see they be according to Charter ; and especially of 
those that have the administration of Justice ; and whatever yoa 
do, let the point of the law* be turned against impiety, and your 
severe brow be upon all the troublesome and vexatious, more es- 
pecially trifling Appealers. 

" You shall shortly have a Limitation from the King, though yoa 
have power, with the Council and Assembly, to fix the matter and 
manner of Appeals, as much as to do any justice, or prevent any 
disorder in the Province at all. 

" Seventhly, That, till then, T have sent you a Proclamation to 
that effect, aecording to the powers of Ordinance-making, as de- 
clared in my Letters Patent, which you may expose as you please. 

*' Eighthly, Be most just, as in the sight of the all-seeing, all- 
searching God ; and, before you let your spirits into an affair, re- 
tire to Him, (who is not far away from any of you, and by whom 
Kings reign and Princes decree justice, (that he may give you a 
good understanding and government of yourselves in the manage- 
ment thereof; which is that which truly crowns public actions, and 
dignifies those that perform them. You shall hear further from me 
by C. King. The ship is ready to sail : so I shall only admonish 
you in general, that, next to the preservation of virtue, you have 
a tender regard to peace and my privileges, in which enact from 
time to time. Love, forgive, help, and serve one another ; and let 
the people learn by your example, as well as by your power, the 
happy life of concord. So, commending; you to God's grace and 
keeping, I bid you heartily farewell. 

" Given at VVorrainghurst in Old England the first of the twelfth 
month, 1686." 



OfWILLIAM PSNif. 'ISg 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



4^. iQ^T-^earries up Mdrens of the Quakers to James the Uleconii 
on his Declaration for Liberty of Conscience — his speech to th$ 
King-— the King^s answer-— travels into different counties— ^ 
preaches at Bristol fair — and at Chew under an oak — and at 
Chester J where the King hears him — goes to Oxford — meets the 
the King there^ who interferes unjustly in the election of a Presi- 
dent for Magdalen College— his noble reproof of ths latter — his 
interview with a Deputation from the College — writes " Good 
Advice to the Church of England and Catholic and Protestant 
Dissenters'^ — also " The great and popular Objection against th» 
Repeal of the penal Laws stated and considered^^ — affairs of 
Pennsylvania. 

William Penn, having come to England in behalf of religioui 
liberty, could not but look back with pleasure upon the Proclama- 
tion which bad been made the preceding year. Anxiously as he 
desired to return to America, and much as his presence was want* 
ed there, he could not leave the kingdom just when success began 
to dawn upon his endeavours. He resolved therefore to stay 
awhile longer, that he might continue his exertions in the same 
cause. 

In the month of April the King, influenced in part by his repre- 
sentations, issued a Declaration of Liberty of Conscience for Eng- 
land, and for suspending the execution of all penal laws in matters 
ecclesiastical. In the preamble to this he expressed his abhor- 
rence of persecution for religion, in which he said he did not doubt 
of the concurrence of his Parliament. He renewed his promise of 
maintaining the Church of England. He suspended all the laws 
made against Dissenters. He declared all his subjects equally ca- 
pable of employment in the State. He suppressed therefore all 
Oaths and Tests which limited them in this respect, and conclud- 
ed by promising that he would maintain all equally in their prop- 
erties, and particularly in the possession of the Abbey -lands. 

By this Declaration Protestant-Dissenters experienced a general 
ease, and enjoyed their meetings peaceably. The Quakers, who 
had smarted more than others by the penal laws, could not be less 
sensible of their relief than these. They could not see such a De- 
claration as the preceding without feeling thankful to the author 
of it ; and therefore, though they did not approve of all the politi- 
cal acts of the King during the short time he had reigned, they de- 
termined at their yearly meeting, the representatives of their body 
beinff then assembled, to express their gratitude for this seasona- 
ble respite from oppression. Accordingly the following Address 
to James the Second, containing the humble and grateful acknow- 
ledgements of his peaceable subjects called Quakers, was propos- 
ed and carried. 

" We cannot but bless and praise the name of Almighty God, 
who hatli the hearts of princes in his hand, that he hatli inclined 



•jfl MEMOtn» OF TH« LIFE 

the Kin* toliPar the cries of his s'l fenng suhjerts for conscience 
Snl< ■ ; =*siH We rejuice t!iat, insei"! O' t oubliri^ lisii witi: coinpUtiiits 
of our su ieitigs, he has given Us so ^mi'ient an occ .s-oii to pre- 
Bent iiini w tli our thanks. AntI since it hat'i pleased t!ie King, 
eu' of his ^reat compassion, t us to coMimiserate our afflicted coii- 
diti )n, vviiich hath so particjl iily ap>>eare(l bv his <;rac tms Procla- 
notioii a'nl Warrants, w'lei'ebv twelve hundred prisoners were re- 
leased from their sevecal imprisonments, imd many <-t.'iers from 
spoil and ruin in tht-ir es^:ites a id properties, and by his princely 
Speech in Council and Christian Declaration for Liberty of • oa- 
science. in which 'e doth not only express his aversion to all force 
Horn con-*cience. and »'ant all his dissenting subjects an ample 
liHarty to vv'orshin Gol in tiie way they are persuaded is most 
ag eeiide to his will, but gives them his kinjilv word the same shall 
coitinae durinji; his reign : ^\ e do. as our Friends of this Citj 
have already 'lone, render th<' K-;tg our humule. Christian, and 
thankf^ul acknowie Ijjements. n'»t oniv in nehalf of Ourselves, but 
with r -spect to our Friends thr»us;hoat England and VVales ; and 
pray God with all our 'hearts to hle-^s a';d preserve tr.ee, (> King, 
and 'hose un<lerthee. in so ijood a wurk : And as We can assure 
the ?Cingit is well arcei)ted i ' t e several c^iunties from which We 
came, so We hoye the j;;)od effects t'ereof for the peace, trade and 
pi ;)suerity of the kin'^doni will produce such a concurrence from 
the Parliime it as mav secnre it to our posterity in after times; 
and. while we liv<», it shall ')e our endeavour through God's urace, 
to demean oaiselves, as in conscience to G id and duty to the 
King VVe are ohli.ied. his peaceable, loving, and faithful subjects.'* 

William Penn. having been appointed by t'-e Yearly Meeting, 
With certain others, to present this their Address, was admitted 
with his ass.»ciates to the King, before whom he delivered himself 
in these wnds : 

*• It was the saying of our blessed Lord to the captious Jews in 
the case of tribute. ' flender to Cpesar the things tl-at are Csesar's, 
and to G»d the thin'zs 'hat are God's.' As tbis jlistinction ought 
to he observed hv all men in th * conduct of their lives, so the King 
has given us an illustricms example, in his own nerson. that excite* 
us to it '. for wliile he was a subject he gave Caesar his tribute, and 
now he is Cpe«ar he gives God his due. namely, the sovereignty 
over consciences. It were a great shame tben, for any English- 
man t': t professes Christianity, not to jjive God his due. By this 
grace l^e !>as relieved bis distressed subjects from their cruel suf* 
ferings. and raised to 'ujoself a new and lasting empire bv adding 
their affections to t'eir duty. And We pray God to continue the 
Kingin this nohle resolution : for he is now upon a principle that 
has good nature. Christianity, and the 2:f>od of civil society on its 
side, a security to him hevnnd the little arts of Government. 

" T would not that anv s''onld think that We come hither with. 
design to fill the Gayette with our thanks ; but as our suiferingf 
would have moved stt)"PS to comnassion, so We should be harder 
if We were not moved to gratitude. 

" Now, since t'^e King's mercv and n'ondnesshavereac^ e«l to TJs 
throughout the kingdom of England aud principality of VVaitfS, owe 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 185 

General Assembly from all those parts, met at London about our 
church affairs, has appointed Us to wait upon ti.e King with our 
humble thanks, and Me to deliver them ; which 1 do, by tins Ad- 
dress, with all the affection and respect of a dutiful subject." 

After this introductory speech the Address was read ; to which 
the King made the following reply : 

" Gentlemen, 1 thank you heartily for your Address. Some of 
you know (I am sure you do, Mr. Penn), that it was always my 
principle, that conscience ought not to be forced, and that all men 
ought to have the liberty of tlieir consciences. And what [ have 
promised in mv Declaration I will continue to perforin so long as 
I live. And i hope, before I die, to settle it so, that after ages 
shall have no reason to alter it." 

The summer coming on, William Penn travelled into Hamp- 
shire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Glocestershire, Worcestershire, 
Shropshire, Cheshire, and the counties of Stafford and Warwick. 

While in (ilocestershire, he took the opportunity of going to 
Bristol fair, where there was usually a great concourse of people. 
He held several meetings for worship durinu; the fair, which appear 
to have been particularly crowded. John Whiting, in speaking of 
these in his Memoirs, writes thus : " I and my wife went to Bris- 
tol fair as usual, our friend William Penn being there, where were 
mighty meetingfi, notwithstandin>i; the late persecution in that city. 
Inevfr new greater, though I had been acquainted with them and 
frequented them at times, when at liberty, for sixteen years, even 
from the time of building the great meeting-house there. People 
flocked to them like doves to the windows, which I note to shew 
the ineffectual ness of persecution." 

While at Bristol he went to Chew in Somersetshire, about five 
or six miles from that city. There being at this place no house or 
building to be had sufficient to hold those who came to hear him, he 
held the meeting in the open air, in a close belonging to Richard 
Vickris, and under the boughs of his great oak. " A large and 
heavenly meeting it was," says the same author, " manv Friends 
and others of the country round about being there, and the more, 
that it was the first time, as I remember, that William Penn was 
ever in our county." 

Among the places he visited in Cheshire was Chester itself. The 
King, who was then travelling, arriving thereat the same time, 
went to the meeting-house «if tlie Quakers to hearhim preach. This 
mark of respect the King showed him also at two or three other 
places, where they fell in with each other in the course of their 
respective tours. 

At Oxford they came in together ; and here William Penn had 
an opportunitv of showing not only his courage, but his consisten- 
cy in those principles of reliscious liberty which he had defended 
during his whole life. When the King's Declaration before men- 
tioned came out, some of the Bishops, who were supposed to have 
been gained over bv the Court, set on foot addressps of thanks to 
His Majesty for the promise he bad made in that Declaration of 
supporting the Church of England, " though" says Bishop Burnef 
Z 



las MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

** it was visible that their intent was to destroy the Church." A* 
mong these was Parker, Bishop of Oxford, who had been an Inde» 
pendent, and was now suspected of Popish principles. The King 
"Was desirous of obliging this prelate in his turn ; and therefore^ 
when he was on his visit to Oxford at this time, he recommended 
him (the election of Dr. Hough having been unjustly pronounced 
null and void) as a fit person to fill the Presidentship of Magdalen 
College. To support him more effectually, the King ordered the 
Fellows of that College to attend him They came accordingly, 
but could not agree to his recommendation. The King, however, 
ivould neither hear them speak, nor receive a petition to the con- 
trary, but dismissed them, commanding them to return and elect 
the Bishop immediately. In consequence of this they withdrew, 
but on the same evening returned, and each gave in his own an- 
swer in writing. There were twenty present. Nineteen of them, 
it appears, stated, that they could not in conscience coniply with 
the King's request. Only one gave a dubious answer. This hap- 
pened on the Sunday night. Next morning William Penn was 
•n horseback ready to leave Oxford ; but knowing what had taken 
place, he rode up to Magdalen College, and conversed with the 
Fellows on the subject. After this conversation he wrote a letter, 
and desired them to present it to the King, and then took his de- 
parture. In this letter he signified to His Majesty, as mildly as 
be could, his disapprobation of his conduct on this occasion. Dr. 
Sykes, in relating this anecdote of William Penn by letter to Dr, 
Charlett, who was then absent, mentions that Mr. Penn, "after 
•ome discourse with the Fellows of Magdalen College, wrote s 
^hort letter directed to the King. He wrote to this purpose :— 
that their case was hard, and that in their cireumstances they could 
no^ yield obedience without breach of their oaths." Mr. Creech, 
also, who was at Oxford at the time, in giving an account of the 
same event to the same person, said that " Mr. Penn, the Quaker, 
with whom he dined the day before, and had a long discourse con- 
cerning the College, wrote a letter to the King in behalf of the 
Fellows, intimating that snch mandates were a force on conscience, 
and not very agreeable to his other gracious inaulgencies." In this 
account Sewel, who was then in correspondence with William 
Penn, and who knew almost every thing relating to him as it hap- 
pened, agrees in a striking manner. Sewel, it must be observed, 
bad never seen the letters either of Dr. Sykes or Mr. Creech, for 
they were not made public till long after his death ; and yet in his 
Historv of the Rise and Progress of the Quakers he writes thus : 
" It caused no small fermentation in the minds of people, when 
the Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford, were by the King's 
order dispossessed to make way for Romanists. This was such a 
jjross usurpation, that William Penn, who had ready access to the 
Kinp-, and who endeavoured to get the penal law8 and tests abro- 
jrated, thinking it possible to find out a way whereby to limit the 
Papists so effectually that they should not be able te prevail, did 
for all that not omit to blame this usurpation at Oxford,. and to tell 
the King that it was an act which could not in justice h defended^ 



OF WILLIAM P»N». t8f 

■since the general liberty of conscience did not allow of depriving 
any of their property, ivho did what they ought to do, as the Fel- 
lows of the said Colkge appeared to have done." 

William Penn, having left the above letter for the King, took 
liis departure home. The affair, however, with respect to the Pres- 
identship of the College, was not settled, neither was it settled as 
it related to William Penn. The Fellows remained resolute, and 
the King angry. At length the King took his departure also. Soon 
after this it was reported*, that His Majesty had issued an ordee 
to proceed against the College by a writ of Quo Warranto. This 
report was strengthened by a letter to Dr. Thomas Bailey, one of 
the senior Fellows, in which the writer said, that he addressed him 
out of a compassionate concern for him and his brethren, to per- 
suade them either to comply with His Majesty's letters mandatory, 
or to think of some expedient to prevent the ruin of the College 
and themselves, that the order for the Quo Warranto against the 
College might be recalled before it was too late. The writer also 
suggested to him and his brethren the necessity of some concession 
to the king for their past conduct. 

As this letter was sent without any signature to it, the author 
was not known. Dr. Bailey, however, chose to attribute it to Wil- 
liam Penn, and this expressly on account of the benevolent object 
it had in view. He therefore ventured to answer it as if it had ac- 
tually come from the latter. This was on the third of October. 
*' The paper inclosed," says the Doctor to William Penn, "is aco* 
py of a letter, which by the charitable purpose, of it seems to be 
written by you, who have already been so kind as to appear in our 
behalf, and are reported by all who know you, to employ much of 
your time in doing good to mankind, and using your credit with 
JEIis Majesty to undeceive him in any wron^ impressions given him of 
his conscientious subjects ; and, when his justice and goodness 
have been thereby abused, to reconcile the persons injured to Hit 
mMajesty^s favour, and secure them by it from oppression and injus* 
tice. In this confidence I presume to make application to you." 
■After this the Doctor stated the merits of the case, and solicit- 
ed his mediation to restore him and his brethren to His Majestj'f 
good opinion. 

It is not known whether William Penn ever wrote the one or 
answered the other letter. It is certain, however, that the Col- 
lege, still alarmed by the report of the writ as before mentioned, 
thought it worth while to try his influence with the King, and 
therefore sent a deputation of five persons. Hough, Hunt, Ham- 
mond, Young, and Cradock, to Windsor, where he then was, t» 
ask his interference in their behalf. An account of the conversa- 
tion which passed on this occasion was given by Dr. Hough in a 
letter to a relation, which he wrote on the evening after it had takea 
place. 

It appears by this letter, that William Penn gave them two in- 
terviews, which together lasted about three hours. In the first he 
^ began by stating to them tiie great concern he had for the wel- 

* See Wilmot's Life of Dt. Hougk. 



18& MEMOinS OK THE LIFE 

fare of their College, the many eflforts he had made to recoDcilft 
them with the Kin§, and the great sincerity of his intentions and 
actions ; that he thought nothing in this world was worth a trick, 
or any thing sufficient to justify collusion or deceitful artifice." 
Upon the Delegates telling him that they relied upon his sin- 
cerity, he gave them an historical accountof his acquaintance with 
the King; assured them that it was not Popery, hut Property, that 
began it ; that, however people were pleased to call him Papist, he 
was a dissenting Protestant; and that he dissented from Papists in 
almost all those points wherein they (the Delegates) differed from 
them, and in many wherein they (the Delegates) and the Papists 
agreed. The first intei view seems to have been taken up in pre- 
liminaries of this sort. 

In the second he told them, he wished with all his heart that 
he had sooner concerned himself in their business, for he owned 
to them he feared they had come too late. He would use, howev- 
er, his endeavours; and if they were unsuccessful, they (the Dele- 
gates) must attribute it to want of power in him, and not of good 
wi'l to serve them. Upon this it was stated, that tiie most effec- 
tual way to serve them woulil be to give His Majesty a true state 
of the case, which they had reason to suppose His Majesty had 
never received. They then presented him with certain papers for 
tliis purpose. On receiving them, he read them attentively ; and 
after making objections, which were answered by Dr. Hough, he 
promised faithfully to read every word to the King, unless he was 
peremptorily commanded to forbear. He said, however, that the 
measures wliich had been resolved upon against the C(dlege were 
such as the King thought would take efllect, but he himself knew 
nothing in particular. 

After this the illness- of Bishop Parker (whom the King had nom- 
inated to the Presidentship) became a subject of conversation ; 
when William Penn observed with a smile, that, if he were to die, 
Dr. Hough (who had been elected but displaced) might be made 
Bishop. Hough replied, he had no ambition above the post in 
which he was ; and that, having never been conscious to himself of 
any disloyalty towards his Prince, he could not but wonder what 
it was should make him so mud) more incapable of serving His 
Majestv in the College, than those His Majesty had been pleased 
to recommend. William Penn said, that Majesty did not love to 
be thwarted, and after so long a dispute they could not expect to 
be restored to the King's favour without making some concessions. 
Hough told him in reply, that they were ready to make all that 
were consist^^nt v/ith honesty and conscience ; but that they were 
justified in all that had been done by their oaths and statutes, be- 
sides which they bad a religion to defend. The Papists had aU 
ready gotten Christ-Church and University Colleges. The pres- 
ent struggle was for Magdalen, and in a short time they threaten- 
ed they would have the rest. Upon this William Penn replied 
with vehemence thus : " That," says he, "thev shall never have, as- 
sure yourselves. If once they proceed so far, they will quickly find 
themselves destitute of their piesent assistance. For my part, I 
have always declared my opinion, that the preferments of the 



OF WILLIAM PENK, 189 

Church should not be put int(» any other hanils but such as they at 
present are in ; bi^t l l.Oje you would not have the two Universities 
such invincible bulwarks for the Church of Piiigland, that none but 
they must be capable of jjivinu. their children a learned education. 
I suppose two or three Colleges will content the Papists. Christ- 
church is a noble structure ; University is a pleasant place, and 
Magdalen College is a comply buildin;"." 

Here the conversation ended, and this rather abruptly ; for the 
Delegates began to be dissatisfied with their interview. They 
thought, strange to relate, that William Penn had been rambling, 
and, because he spoke doubtfully about the success of his intended 
efforts, and of the superior capacity of the Estal)Ii8hed Clergy that 
they alone should monopolize education, that his language was not 
to be depended nptm as sincere ! How this couhl have come into 
their heads, except from tne terror into which the situation of the 
C(>lle<."^e bad thrown them, it is not easy to conceive ; for certainly 
William Penn was as explicit as any man could have been under sim- 
ilar citcumstances. He infoimed them that, after repeated efforts 
^vith the King, he feared they had come too late, and that the King 
expected that the measures he had taken would prove effectual. 
This was plain language. He informed them again, that he would 
make another trial with the King; that he would read their papers 
to him, uidess peremptorily commanded to forbear : but that, if he 
failed, they must attribute his want of success not to his want of 
will but to Ins want of power. This, though expressive of his 
doubts and fears, was but a necessary caution, when his exertions 
had already failed ; and it was still more necessary, when there 
%vas reason to suppose that, though the King had a regard for him, 
and was glad to employ him as an instrument in forwarding his 
public views, yet that lie would not gratify him where his solicita- 
tions diiectlv opposed them. That William Penn did afterwards 
make a trial with the King to serve the College there can be no 
doubt, because n<> instance can be produced wherein he ever for- 
feited his word or broke his promise : but all trials with this view 
must of necessity have been ineffectual. The King and his Min- 
isters had already determined the point in question, and what had 
been deemed necessary as political conduct was not to be prevent- 
ed by piivate interference or intercession ; for in a few davs after- 
wards Commissioners went down to Oxford for the purpose of car- 
rying the King's views into efi'ect : the consequence of wl'ich was, 
that, after a noble resistance on the part of Dr. Hough and almost 
all the Fellows, both he and tley were displaced; though after- 
wards, when the King began to see the impolicy of this and other 
of his unjust proceedings, they were restored. 

William Penn, having returned from his journev as before men- 
tioned, became an author a^ain. He had observed, during his trav- 
els, that however sincere the King himself miuht he in his late Pe- 
claration for the removal of Tests and Penalties as unjust in prin- 
ciple and burthensome to rotisci Mice, the Church of En}.r;h'U!d was 
inimical to it. believino; t; at, thouu-'i th.e King mijrht wish tlu-reby 
to relieve Protestant Dissenters, his great object was to protect tlie 



1^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Roman Catholics in their worship, and to give a spread to their re- 
ligion. The late Declaration therefore had become unpopular. 
But, unpopular as it was, he considered it to be just, and not only 
just, but to be conducive to the public interest; and therefore, 
without any regard to it as a measure of the King, he determined 
to defend it upon broad and general principles. He brought out 
accordingly a work (to which however he did not affix his name 
Jest it might prejudice the reader) called ''Good Advice to the 
Church of England, and Roman Catholic and Protestant Dissent- 
ers, in which it is endeavoured to be made appear, that it is their 
Duty, Principle, and Interest, to abolish the Penal Laws and 
Tests." 

He began his book by showing, first, that it was the Christian 
duty of the Church of England. Among the arguments used were 
these : that faith was the gift of God, and of him alone ; that God 
also was the Lord of Conscience ; that Christianity was built on 
Love ; that Christ was sent to us in Love, that he lived in Love, 
and that he died, and died for us also in Love. He considered, he 
said, these sanguinary Laws to be like the abomination of the 
Jews, or the sacrifice of their children to Moloch, for which they 
were grievously punished. They were equally sinful ; for m«w, 
women, and children were offered up by means of them without 
mercy. But to whom .'' It was said, to God. But this rendered 
the case worse ; because then it was to be taken for granted, that 
the only good, just, wise and merciful Being delighted in cruelty. 
He adverted also, in proof of his position, to the conduct of our" 
Saviour on two occasions. First, when his disciples would have 
called down fire from heaven on the Samaritans, because on ac- 
count of th««ir religious prejudices they would not receive him, he 
rebuked them for the very thought. Secondly, he opposed them 
also, when, on seeing a man casting out devils in his name, they 
forbad him, because he would not follow them. " Here," says he, 
reasoning upon the latter instance, " was at least a dissenting 
Christian and a Believer. But what did our Saviour say to all 
this ? He said, ' Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is 
with us.' The prohibition then by the disciples was taken off" by 
©ur Lord, and their judj^ment was reversed." He considered it 
also to be the duty of Christians to do as they would be done by. 
Now the Church of England complained bitterly of the severities 
exprcised bv that of Rome upon poor Protestants in France, and 
yet practised them herself upon poor Protestants in England. If 
there was also any thing in Popery which the Church of England 
disliked m )re than another, it was the violence of the f »rmer. She 
did not count the Popish Doctors Conjurers for their Transubstan- 
tiation, or dangerous to the state for their Beads and Purgatory. 
It was the forcing others to their Faith, or ruining them for refus- 
ing it, which was the terrible thing she apprehended ; and yet she 
herself hauijed. banished, au'l imprisoned, and this even unto death. 
It was. her dutv, again, to avoid severity wl^ere it would be useless. 
But what was the use of Penal Laws, but to show the sincerity of 
tiiose who suffered, and the cruelty of those who made them ? 



OF WILLIAM PENN> 191 

He showed next, that it was not the principle of the Church of 
England to persecute. " That I may do," says he, '"• The Refor- 
mation right, and the principles of tlie Church of England justice, 
I must say that hardly one person of any note died in the time of 
"Queen Mary, who did not pas* sentence upon Persecution as anti- 
christian, particularly Latimer, Philpot, Bradford, and Rogers, 
who were very eminent Reformers. The Apologies which were 
written in those times are in the same strain, as may be seen in 

Jewel, Haddon, Reynolds, and others." *' But why need we 

go far back ? Is it not recent in memory, that Bishop Usher was 
employed on a mission to Oliver Cromwell by some of the Clergy 

of the Church of England for liberty^of conscience ?" He then 

appealed to the writings of Dr. Hammond, and, after that, to the 
Sermons of Bishop Saunderson, from which he made copious ex- 
tracts, one ofwhichlwill insert. "The word of God," says 
Bishop Saunderson, " doth expressly forbid us to subject our con-» 
sciences to the judgment of any other, or to usurp a dominion 
over the consciences of any o-ne." He then cited from the 
writings of Dr. Taylor, Bishop of Down, no less than eiglit passag- 
es, among which I select the three following : " I am," says this 
learned prelate, " most of all displeased, that men should be per- 
secuted and afflicted for their religious opinions. If I should tie 
another man to believe my opinion, because I think I have a place 
of Scripture which seems to warrant it to my understanding, why 
may he not serve up another dish to me in the same dre?s, and ex- 
act the same task of me to believe the contradictory .f^" " If a 

man never changes his opinion heartily or resolutely, but when he 
cannot do otherwise, then to use force may make him an hypocrite, 
but never a right believer, and so instead of erecting a trophy to 

Gody we build a monument for the Devils " The experience 

v^hich Christendom has had in this last age is argument enough, 
that Toleration of difl'erent opinions is so far from disturbing the 
public peace, or destroying the interests of Princes and Common- 
wealths, that it does advantage to the public. It secures peace, 
because there is not so much as the pretence of religion left to such 

persons to contend for, it being already indulged to them." 

Last of all, he brought together extracts from the Sermons of the 
Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Stillingfleet, Dr. Tillotson, and others, in 
proof of the same point ; but I have, unfortunately, no room for 
their insertion. 

He then went to his third point ; namely, to show that it was 
the interest of all parties, but more particularly of the Church of 
England, that the Penal Laws and Tests should be abolished. He 
appealed to the reigns of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, 
Queen Mary, and Charles the First, and argued from the circum- 
stances of those times in favour of the proposition as now stated : 
but as his arguments were all of them suited to the political state 
of the kingdom as it then existed, it would be unnecessary to re- 
peat them. It would be equally useless to repeat those, which he 
advanced to prove, that it would be to the interest of Dissentei'S, 
that these legal penalties should be removed. I may observe then. 



192 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

that, when he had finished these, he proceeded to the considera- 
tion of the late Uoyal Declaration, and that he matifully detenued 
it. He allowed, however, tliat if it were the wish of a majority of 
the kingdom, that the Established Religion, as it then stood, 
should be the national one, it ought to be so. He allowed also, 
that, if tliere must be an Established National Religion, he had 
rather that the ext aonlinary power attached to it should be vest- 
ed in the hands of the Church of England*, than in tliose of the 
Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, or any Dissenting Church : yet he 
insisted upon Toleration for all, even for Roman Catholics, who 
did so dissent ; and he advised the latter to be satisfied with a bare 
Toleration, seeing that the whole nati<m was against them. In the 
concluding part of his work, aft<'r having stated, that since the 
late King's Restoration above fifteen tlwtisand families had been 
ruined, and more than five thousand persons had died in bonds for 
matters of mere conscience to Qod ; he earnestly recommended to 
all parties, that if they could not agree to meet in one common 
profession of religion, they would at least do all in their power to 
promote one common civil interest, the great good of their coun- 
try, in which they were all equally concerned as subjects, and as 
living in the same land. 

Soon after the publication of this he brought out another work, 
■which he called " The ^reat and popular Objection against the Re- 
peal of the Penal Laws briefly stated and considered." This in- 
deed might, from its connection and contents, be considered as a 
sort of supplement or second volume to tlie former. I do not in- 
tend, however, to give any anlavsis of its contents, because the ar- 
guments, contained in it, were directed against objections not es- 
sential or permanent, but such as were local and temporary, and 
drawn from the peculiar circumstances of the times. 

With respect to his American concerns, which I am now to no- 
tice, it has been stated that he had taken the executive part of the 
Government from the Provincial Council, and that he had lodged 
it in the hands of five Commissioners of Stite, of whom Thomas 
Lloyd was to be the President. It appears that in the month of 
June he addressed a letter to these, one of the first since that which 
conveyed to them their appointment, by which we see under his 
own hand his rea«»on for the change. " I found," says he, *' my 
former Deputation clogged with a Ions and slow tale of persons 
rarely got together, and then with unwillingness, and sometimes 
with reflections even upon me for their pains of hearing; one letter 
read." He instructed the Commissioners to revive the Custom- 
act, as the most equal and least offensive wav of supporting the 
Government. He reminded them also of their new appoint- 
ment, and among; other excellent suggestions for their conduct gave 
them the following advice : " Be diligent, faithful, loving, and 
communicate one with another in thinus that concern the public, 
Draw not several ways have no cabals apart, nor reserves 

• Tliis sentiment entirely coinci les with his declaration to the Magdalen Dele* 
gates as just stated, though they were so diipleased with him. 



OF WILtSAM rfiKN. Ifl 

from one another : treat with a mutual simplicity, an entire con- 
fidence in one another ; and if at any time you mistake or misap* 
prehend, or dissent from one another, let not that appear to the 
people. Show your virtues, but conceal your infirmities. This 
will make you awful and reverent with the latter. Justice, mer- 
cy, temperance of spirit, are high qualities, and necessary ones in 
Government. I heseech God to fit you for his work more and 
more, by whom all Governors and people in authority ought to be 
influenced in their administration of temporal things committed 
to their care." 

It does not appear that even so late as December in this year he 
had received any accounts from America, which gave him reason 
to think that matters were going on better there than before ; for in 
a letter which he wrote to the Commissioners, dated in that month 
from Holland-house, we find the old topics of complaint relative to 
neglect in writing to him, and in collecting his quit-rents, revived. 

" I am heartily sorry," says he, " that I had no letter from the 
Government. Indeed I ])ave hardly had one at all ; and for pri-o 
vate letters, though from public persons, I regard them but little ; 
I mean as to taking my public measures by ; for I find such con- 
tradictions, as well as diversity, that I believe I may say, I am 
one of the unhappiest Proprietors, with one of the best of people. If 
this had not been complained of in mine by Edward Blackfan, I 
should have been less moved at tliis visible incomplacency and ne- 
glect. Had the Governmentsigned, I mean those who are the most 
eminent in authority, by consent of the rest, it had given me some 
ease and satisfaction ; but as it is, 'tis Controversy rather than Gof- 
ernment / for Government stands, and lives, and prospers in unity, 
at least of the governing part, whatever be their aftections ; for 
men may agree in duty, who dislike one another's natural tempers. 
.1 shall henceforth tberefore expect letters from the Govern- 
ment, recounting the affairs of it, that they may be authoritative to 
me, and as many private ones as you please besides. 

" I wrote to you about my quit-rents. I am forced to pay bills 
here to supply my family there, while I have five hundred pounds 
per annum in quit-rents there. You may remember the Votes of 
Council to pay my charges in this expedition. I could draw a large 
sum on the Provincial Council in this respect. I am sure I need 
it, but have forborne, though it is none of the endearingest consid- 
erations that I have not had the present of a skin or a pound of to- 
bacco since I came over ; though they are like to have the most ad- 
vantage by it, and though they promised me so much." 

He was also grieved, as appears by another of his letters, with 
the intended resignation of President Lloyd, who was a very hon- 
ourable and upright man, and wlio was probably not satisfied with 
the conduct of his colleagues. " t am sorry," says he, " that my 
esteemed friend covets a quietus, who is young, active, and inge- 
nious. From such it is that I expect help ; and such will not sow, 
I hope, in vain." 

It appears also, by a letter which he wrote to his agent James 
Harrison, that the only reason of his stay in England was, that he 

A A 



IM I>fEMeiRS, &c* 

might cdnfummate the great object for which he had gone thither. 
He wished to see the " establishment of the liberty which he was a 
small instrument to begin in the land. The Lord," says he, " has 
given me great entrance and interest with the King, though not so 
much as is said j and I confess I should rejoice to see poor Old 
England fixed, and the penal Laws repealed, that are now sus- 
pended; and if it goes well with England, it cannot go ill with Penn- 
sylvania. But this 1 will say, No temporal honour or profit can 
tempt me to decline poor Pennsylvania, as unkindly used as I am ; 
and n« poor slave in Turkey desires more earnestly, I believe, for 
deliverance, than I do to be with you : wherefore be contented 
fiwhilei and God in his time will bring ua together.'^ 



Bkd of ths first volume. 



MEMOIRS 



OF TKS 



PRIVATE AJ^D PUBLIC LIFE 



aP 



WILLIAM PENN, 

VOLUME Ilr 



MEMOIRS 

OF 

TEE LIFE 

O F 

WILLIAM PENN. 

CHAPTER L 

<iif. 1688-^inirorf«cgs Gilbert Latey to the Kin^-— becomes venj %in- 
popular — reputed causes of it— beautiful letter written to him by 
Mr. Popple on this account— 'his answer to the same — is arrested 
{King tVitliam having come to the throne) and brought before 
the Lords of the Council — and examined — and made to give bail 
for his appearance — affairs of Pennsylvania. 

William Penn staid in Enj^land only for the purpose of seeing 
reli^iious liberty established by a law of the land. Of course he was 
a frequent attendant at Whitehall. Going there one day in com= 
pany with George Whitehead, they met Gilbert Latey, an experi- 
enced minister of the Society. They asked him, if he would go 
>vith them and wait upon the King. " Gilbert paused for awhile, 
end as he thus stood silent, it opened in his heart what he should 
say to the King; whereupon he told the Friends he was ready to go 
with them; and accordingly they went, and had admittance into the 
King's presence, there being only one other person present besides 
the King and his Friends. George Whitehead and William Penn 
having spoken wliat they had to say, the King was pleased to ask 
Gilbert, whether he had not something to say ; upon which he in a 
great deal of humility spake in the manner following : ' The mer- 
cy, favour, and kindness, which the King hath extended to us as a 
people in the time of our exercise and sore distress, we humbly ac- 
knowledge ; and I truly des re that God may show him mercy and 
favour in the time o{ his trouble and sore distress.^ To which the 
King replied, I thank you ; and so at that time they parted. But 
■what was then spoken by Gilbert lived with the King ; who, some 
time after, when he was in Ireland, desired a Friend to remember 
him to Gilbert. Tell him, said the King, the words he spake to me 
1 shall never forget, adding that one part of them had come true 
{the devolution and sore distress thereby), and tliat he prayed to 
God that the other might come to pass. IFpon this Gilbert caused 
it to bo si2;nified to him, that the second part of what he had said 
was also in a great measure come to pass, for that the Lord had 
given him his life" {alluding to the battle of the Boyne). I men- 
<;ion this as a curious anecdote of the constitution of the King's 



4 MliMOrRS OF THE LiFfi 

mind, he having viewed the words spoken by Gilbert Latey in a 
prophetic light. 

In the month of April the King renewed his Declaration for lib- 
erty of conscience, with this addition, that he would adhere firmly 
to it, and that he would put none into public employments but such 
as would concur with him in maintaining it. He also promised 
that he would hold a Parliament in the November following. This 
was what William Penn desired. He wished the King to continue 
firm to his purpose ; but he knew that neither tests nor penalties 
could be legally removed without the consent of Parliament. He 
rejoiced therefore that the Parliament were to be consulted on the 
measure ; for he indulged a hope, that the substance of the Royal 
Declaration would be confirmed by both Houses, and thus pass in- 
to a law of the land. 

At tlie time when this Declaration was renewed, an Order of 
Council came out, that it should be read in the churches within the 
ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the kingdom. Sancroft Archbishop 
of Canterbury, and six other Bishops, namely, St. Asaph, Ely, 
Bath and Wells, Peterborough, Chichester, and Bristol, present- 
ed a petition to the King in behalf of themselves and several other 
.Bishops, and a great body of the Clergy ; in which they laid belore 
him the reasons why they had opposed the reading of the Declara- 
tion in the churches, as the Order in Council had prescribed. They 
intended, they said, no disrespect to His Majesty, nor did they 
breathe any spirit of hostility towards the Dissenters ; but the De- 
claration being founded on a dispensing power, which had been de- 
clared illegal no less than three times in eigiit years, they could 
not become parties to it by giving it the extraordinary publicity 
required. The King having heard the petition, of which this wa» 
the substance, took time to deliberate upon it ; after which the 
seven Bishops were sent to the Tower. In process of time they 
were brought to trial, and they were acquitted among the plaudits 
of the nation. 

After this event William Penn became more unpopular than ev-^ 
er. It had transpired, probably by means of Burnet, that he had 
been employed by the King on the embassy to the Hague to obtaia 
the Prince of Orange's consent, not only to a Toleration, but t» 
the removal of Tests. It had been suspected that he was the mov- 
er of the Royal Proclamation in 1686, and of the Declaration in 
1687. It had become known, though he had concealed his name, 
that he was the author of '• Good Advice to the Church of Eng- 
land, and Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters." It was 
therefore now taken for granted, that he had a hand in the impris- 
onment of the Bishops, though he had never any concern, on any 
occasion, in the recommendation of force. The consequence was, 
that he became very odious to the Church. The Dissenters too, 
whose very cause he had been pleading, turned against him. Con- 
sidering his intimacy with James the Second, they judged him to 
be a creature of the same stamp, and to have the like projects and 
pursuits. Now it happened that the King had made this year a 
more open acknowledgment of Popery than ever. He had per- 
mitted the Jesuits to erect a College in the Savoy in London, a»d 



OF WILLIAM PBNN. 

raffered the Friai's to go publicly in the dress of their monastical 
orders ; which was a strange sight to Protestants. He had per- 
mitted also the Pope's Nuncio D'Ada to make his public entry into 
Windsor in great state. He was therefore most openly a Catiio- 
lic. Hence they considered "William Penn to be of the same reli- 

fious persuasion. But they carried the matter still further ; for, 
elieving that the King, when he wished to establish a Toleration 
and to abolish Tests, had no other motive than that of protecting 
the Roman Catholic Religion, and thus giving it an opportunity to 
flourish, they attached to William Penn the same motive in his 
furtherance and defence of the measure. From this time the names 
of Papist and Jesuit were revived with double fury. It was added, 
that he was disaffected to the free part of the Constitution, and a 
friend to arbitrary power. The clamour, indeed, was so great 
against him, being spread both by Dissenters and the Church, that 
several, who had not the courage to go against the spirit of the 
times, avoided his acquaintance. Others, who were of a firmer 
texture, and who valued him from whatthey knewof his worth and 
character, did not follow the stream; but, either to exculpate them- 
selves for not doing so, or to try if possible to recover his expiring 
reputation, required of him, as Dr. Tillotson had done before, a 
voucher from his own hand that there was no ground for those ep- 
ithets which the public had fixed upon him. Among these was 
Mr. Popple*, who was the intimate friend both of him and of John 
Locke. His letter to this purpose was friendly, modest, and res- 
pectful, yet firm and manly. It discovered great good sense, and 
a liberal and highly cultivated mind. As a composition it was mas- 
terly, with respect to words, sentences, and arguments, as will be 
seen from the following copy of its contents. 
" To the Honourable William Penn, Esq. Proprietor and Gov* 
ernor of Pennsylvania. 
" HoNouRKD Sir, 
" Though the friendship with which you are pleased to honour 
me doth afford me sufficient opportunities of discoursing with you 
upon any subject, yet I choose rather at this time to offer unto you 
in writing, some reflections which have occurred to my thoughts 
in a matter of no common importance. The importance of it doth 
primarily and directly respect yourself,and your own private con- 
cernments; but it also consequently'and effectually regards the King, 
his Government, and even the peace and settlement of this whole 
Nation. I entreat you therefore to bear with me, if I endeavour in 
this manner to give somewhat more weight unto my words than 
would be in a transient discourse, and leave them with you as as 
subject that requires your retired consideration. 

" You are not ignorant that the part you have been supposed to 
have had of late years in public affairs, though without either the 
title, or honour, or profit, of any public office, and that especially 
your avowed endeavours to introduce among us a general and in- 
violable liberty of conscience in matters of mere religion, have oc- 

• This gentleman waj Secntary to the Itordt C«nin>issioner6 fot tie Affaiis <4 
Tradt and Plantations. 



% JftXEMOISS OF TH£ LIFE 

easioned the mistakes of some men, provoked the malice of others, 
and in the end have raised against you a multitude of enemies, 
whohav^e unworthily defamed you with such imputations as I am 
sure you abhor. This I know you have heen sufficiently informed 
ef, though I doubt you have not made sufficient reflection upon 
it. The consciousness of your own innocence seems to me to 
have given you too great a contempt of such unjust and ill-ground<. 
«d slanders ; for, however glorious it is and reasonable for a truly 
virtuous mind, whose inward peace is founded upon that rock of 
innocence, to despise the empty noise of popular reproach, yet 
even that sublimity of spirit may sometimes swell to a reprovable 
excess. To be steady and immoveable in the prosecution of wise 
and honest resolutions, by all honest and prudent means, is indeed 
a duty that admits of no exception : but nevertheless it ought not 
to hinder that, at the same time, there be also a due care taken of 
preserving a fair reputation. ' A good name,' says the Wise Man, 
* is better than precious ointment.' It is a perfume that recom- 
mends the person whom it accompanies, that procures him every 
where an easy acceptance, and that facilitates the success of all 
his enterprizes : and for that reason, though there were no other, 
I entreat you, observe, that the care of a man's reputation is an es- 
sential part of that very same duty that engages him in the pursuit 
of any worthy design. 

" But I must not entertain you with a declamation upon this 
general theme. My business is to represent to you more particu- 
larly those very imputations which are cast upon yourself, togeth- 
er with some of their evident consequences ; that, if possible, J 
may thereby move you to labour after a remedy. The source of 
all arises from the ordinary access you have unto the King, the 
credit vou are supposed to have with him, and the deep jealousy 
that some people have conceived of his intentions in reference to 
religion. Their jealousy is, that his aim has been to settle Popery 
in this nation, not only in a fair and secure liberty, but even in a 
predominating superiority over all other professions : and from 
hence the inference follows, that whosoever has any part in the 
councils of this reign must needs be popishly affected ; but that to 
have so great a part in them as you are said to have had, can hap- 
pen to none but an absolute Papist. Tliat is the direct charge : 
but that is not enough ; your post is too considerable for a Papist 
of an ordinary form, and therefore you must be a Jesuit : nay, to 
confirm that suggestion, it must be accompanied with all the cir- 
cumstances that may best give it an air of probability ; as. that you 
have been bred at St. Omer's in the Jesuit's college ; that you have 
taken orders at Rome, and there obtained a dispensation to mar- 
ry : and that you have since then frequently officiated as a Priest 
in the celebration of the Mass at Whitehall, St. James's, and oth- 
er places. And this being admitted, nothing; can be too black to 
be cast upon vou. W^hatsoever is thought amiss either in Church 
or State, though never so contrary to your advice, is boldly attri- 
buted to it ; and, if other proofs fail, the Sc ipture itself must be 
brought in to confirm, ' That whosoever offends in one point (in a 
point especially so essential as that of our too much affected uniformi- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 7" 

ty) is guilty of the breach of all our laws.' Thus the charge of Pope- 
ry draws after it a tail like the et ccetera oath, and by einlless innm- 
don prejudicates you as !^uilty of whatsoever malice can invent, or 
folly believe. But that charge, therefore, being removed, the in- 
ferences that are drawn from it will vanish, and your reputation 
will easily return to its former brightness. 

" Now, that I might the more ettectually persuade you to apply 
some remedy to this disease, I beseech you. Sir, suffer me to lay 
before you some of its pernicious consequences. It is not a trifling 
matter for a person, raised as you are above the common level, to 
lie under the prejudice of so general a mistake in so important a 
matter. The general and long prevalency of any opinion gives it 
a strength, especially among the vulgar, that is not easily shaken. 
And as it happens that you have also enemies of a higher rank, 
who will be ready to improve such popular mistakes by all sorts of 
malicious artifices, it must be taken for granted that tliose errors 
will be thereby still more confirmed, and the inconveniences that 
may arise from thence no less increased. This, 8ir, I assure you, 
is a melancholy prospect to your friends ; for we know you have 
such enemies. The design of so universal a liberty of conscience, 
as your principles have led you to promote, has ofTendetl manv of 
those whose interest it is to cross it. I need not tell you how many 
and how powerful they are ; nor can 5 tell you either how f;ir, or by 
what ways and means, they may endeavour to execute their re- 
venae. But this, however, I must needs tell you ; that, in your 
present circumstances, there is sufficient ground for so much jcal- 
ousv at least as ought to excite you to use the precaution of some 
public vindication. This the tenderness of friendship prompts your 
friends to desire of you ; and this the just sense of your honour, 
which true religion does not extinguish, requires you to execute. 

" Pardon, I entreat you, Sir. the earnestness of these expres- 
sions ; nav, suffer me, without offence, to expostulate with j'ou vet 
a little further. I am fearful lest these personal considerations 
should not have their due weight with you, and therefore I cannot 
omit to reflect a!s;) upon soiUJ in )re general consequences of 
your particular reproach. I have said it already, that the King, 
his honour, liis government, and even the peace and settlement of 
this whole nation, either are or have been concerned in this mat- 
ter : your reputation, as you are said to have meddled in public 
affairs, has been of public concernment. The promoting a general 
liberty of conscience having been your particular province, the as- 
persion of Popery and .Jesuitism, that has been cast upon you. has 
reflected upon His Majesty for having made use, in that affair, of 
so disguised a personage as you are supposed to have been. It has 
weakened the force of yourendeavours, obstructed their effect, and 
contributed greatly to disappo'nt tl)is poor nation of that inestima- 
ble happiness, and secure establishment, which I am persuaded you 
designed, and which all good and wise men agree that a just and 
inviolable liberty of conscience would infallibly produce. I hear- 
tily wish this consideration had been sooner laid to heart, and that, 
some demonstrative evidence of your sincerity in the profession 
you make had accompanied all your endeavours for liberty. 



8 MEM0IU6 OF THE LIFE 

" But what do I saj, or what do I wish for ? I confess that I am 
now struck with astonishment at that abundant evidence which I 
know you have constantly given of the opposition of your princi- 
ples to those of the Romish church, and at the little regard there 
has been had to it. If an open profession of the directest opposi- 
tion against Popery, that has ever appeared in the world since 
Popery was first distinguished from common Christianity, would 
serve the turn, this; cannot be denied to all those of that Society 
"with which you are joined in tlie duties of religious wt)rship.^ If to 
have maintained the principles of that Society by frequent and fer- 
vent discourses, by many elaborate wiitings.by suffering ignominy, 
iron- jsonment, and other manifold disadvantages, in defence there- 
of, can be admitted as any proof of your sincere adherence there- 
unto ; this, it is evident to the world, you have done already. Nay, 
further ; if to have inquired, as far as was possible for you, into the 
particular stories that have been framed against you, and to have 
sought all means of rectify in-j; tlie mistakes upon which they were 
grounded, could in any measure avail to the setting a true charac- 
ter of vou in men's judgments, this also I know you have done. 
For ! have seen, under the hand of a Reverend Dean of our Eng- 
lish church (Dr. Tillotson), a full acknowledgment of satisfaction 
received from you in a suspicion he had entertained upon one of 
those stoiies, and to which his report had procured too much credit. 
And thoujih I know you are averse to the publishing of his letter 
without his express leave, and perhaps may not now think fit to 
ask it: yet 1 am so thoroughly assured of his sincerity and can- 
dour, that I cannot doubt hut he has already vindicated you in that 
m.tter, and will, (according to his promise) be still ready to do it 
upon all occasions. Nay, I have seen also your justification from 
anotlier calumny of common fame, about your having kidnapped 
one. who had been formerly a monk, out of your American prov- 
ince, to deliver him here into the hands of his enemies; I say, I 
have seen your justification from that story under that person's 
own hand ; and his return to Pennsylvania, M'here he now resides, 
may be an irrefragable confutation of it to any that will take the 
pains to inquire thereinto. 

" Really it afflicts me very much to consider that all this does 
not suffice. If I had not that particular respect for you which I 
sincerely profess, yet I could not but be much affected, that any 
man, who had deservedly acquired so fair a reputation as you have 
formerly had, whose integrity and veracity had always been re- 
puted spotless, and whose charity had been continually exercised 
in s»^rving others, at the dear expense of his time, his strengtl), and 
his estate, without any other recompense than what results from 
the consciousness of doing good : I say, I could not but be much 
affected, to see any such person fall innocently and undeservedly 
under such unjust reproaches as you have done. It is a hard 
case ; and I think no man that has any bowels of humanity can re- 
flect upon it without great relentings. 

" Since therefore it is so, and that something remains yet to be 
done— -something more express, and especially more public, than 
has yet been done — for your vindication ; I beg of you, dear Sir, 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 9 

by all the tender efficacy that friendship, either mine or that of 
your friends and relations together can have upon you ; by the due 
regard which humanity, and even Christianity, obliges you to have 
to your reputation ; by the duty you owe unto the King ; by your 
love to the land of your nativity ; and by the cause of universal re- 
ligion, and eternal truth ; let not the scandal of insincerity, that I 
have hinted at. lie any longer upon you ; but let the sense of all 
these obligations [..el-suade you to gratify your friends and rela- 
tions, and to serve ycur King, your country, and your religion, by 
such a public vindication of your honour, as your own j -udence, 
upon these suggestions, will now show you to be most necsci^iary 
and most expedient. I am, with unfeigned and most respectful 
aft'ection. Honoured Sir, 

" Your most humble and most 
obedient servant, 

" William Popple " 

William Penn was at Teddington, near London, when this let- 
ter reached him. It was dated the twentieth of October, and on 
the twenty -fourth he answered it. His answer, which I shall now 
give to the reader, seems to have been more finished than most of 
his compositions of the same sort ; and aftbrds a proof that, how- 
ever high others might rise in their style, diction, and the manner 
of their argument in those letters which they addressed to him, he 
also was able, when there was suflficient ground of incitement, to 
attain an equal height. 

" Worthy Friend, 

" It is now above twenty years, I thank God, that I have not 
been very solicitous what the world thought of me: for since I have 
had the knowledge of religion from a principle* in myself, the first 
and main point with me has been to approve myself in the sight of 
God through patience and well-doing : so that the world has not 
had weight enough with me to suffer its good opinion to raise me, 
or its ill opinion to deject me. And if that had been the only mo- 
tive or consideration, and not the desire of a good friend in the 
name of many others, I had been as silent to thy letter as 1 use to 
be to the idle and malicious shams of the times : but as the laws of 
friendship are sacred with those that value that relation, so I con- 
fess this to be a principal one with me, not to denv a friend the 
satisfaction he desires, when it may be done without offence to a 
good conscience. 

" The business chiefly insisted upon is my Popery, and endeav- 
ours to promote it. I do say then, and that with all sincerity, that 
I am not only no Jesuit, but no Papist ; and, which is more, I nev- 
er had any temptation upon me to be it, either from doubts in my 
own mind about the way I profess, or from the discourses or writ- 
ings of any of that religion. And in the presence of Almighty 
God I do declare, that the King did never once, directly or indi- 

• He means the spirit in man, wliich is illiur.inafed by the Spirit of God, so that 
the more the former bows itself for instruction to the latter, the more the man ad- 
■vances both inwardly and outwardly to a holy life. 



10 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

rectly, attack me, or tempt me, upon that subject, the many yeai*s 
that 1 have had the advantage ota free access to him ; so unjust, as 
^vell as sordidly false, are all those stories of the town ! 

'• The only reason, that I can apprehend, they have to repute me 
a Roman Catholic, is, my frequent going to Whitehall, a plaee no 
more forbid to me than to the rest of the world, who yet, it seems, 
find much fairer quarter. I have almost continually had one busi- 
ness or other there for our Friends, whom I ever served with a 
steady solicitation through all times since I was of their commu- 
nion. I had also a great many personal good offices to do, upon a 
principle of charity, for people of all persuasions, thinking it a 
duty to improve the little interest I had for the good of those that 
needed it, especially the poor. I might add soniething of my own 
aftairs too, though I must own (if I may Avithout vanity) that they 
have ever had the least share of my tiioughts or pains, or else they 
Avould not have still depended as they yet do. 

"But because some people are so unjust as to render instances for 
my Popery, (or ratlier hypocrisy, for so it would be in me,) 'tis fit I 
contradict them asparticularly as thej'^ accuse me. 1 say then solemn- 
ly, that I am so far from having been bred at .St. Omer's, and hav- 
ing received orders at Rome, that I never was at either place, nor 
do I know any body there ; nor had I ever a correspondence with 
any body in those places : which is another story invented against 
me. And as for my officiating in the King's chapel, or any other, 
it is so ridiculous as well as untrue, that, besides that nobody can 
do it but a priest, and that I have been married to a woman of some 
condition above sixteen years (which no priest can be by any dis- 
pensation whatever), I have not so much as looked into any chapel 
of the Roman religion, and consequently not the King's, though a 
common curiosity warrants it daily to people of all persuasions. 

" And, once for all. I do say that I am a Protestant Dissenter, 
and to that degree such, that 1 cliallenge the most celebrated Prot- 
estant of the English church or any other, on that head, be he lay- 
man or clergyman, in public or in private. For I would have such 
people know, 'tis not impossible fora true Protestant Dissenter to be 
dutiful, thankful, and serviceable to tiie King, though he be of the 
Roman Catholic communion. Wo hold not our property or pro- 
tection from him by our persuasion, and therefore his persuasion 
should not be the measure of our allegiance. I am sorry to see so 
many, that seem fond of the Reformed Religion, by their disaffec- 
tion to him recommend it so ill. Whatever practices of Roman 
Catholics we might reasonably object against (and no doubt but 
such there are), yet he has disclaimed and reprehended those ill 
things by his declared opinion against persecution, by the ease in 
■which he actually indulges all Dissenters, and bv the confirmation 
he offers in Parliament for the security of the Protestant religion 
and liberty of conscience. And in his honour, as well as in my 
own defence, I am obli<red in conscience to say, that he has ever 
declared to me it was his opinion ; and on all occasions, when 
Duke, he never refused me the repeated proofs of it, as often as I 
had any poor sufterers far conscience sake to ^solicit his help for. 



OF WILLIAM PENV. H 

" But some may be apt to say, ' Why not any body else as well 
as I ? Why must 1 have the preferable access to other Dissenters, 

if not a Papist ?' I answer, I know not that is so. But this I 

know, that I have niarle it toy province and business ; I have fol- 
Iov\ed and prest it ; 1 took it for my calling and station, and have 
kept it above these sixteen years ; and, which is more (if I may s;;y 
it without vanity or reproach), wholly at my own charges too. To 
this let me add tlie relation my father had to this King's sei vice, 
his particular favour in getting me released out of t'le Tower of 
London in 1669, my fatlier's humhle request to him upon his death- 
bed to protect me from the inc<»nvenieiuies and troubles my persua- 
sion might expose me to, and his friendly promise to do it, and ex- 
act perforntance of it from the moment 1 addressed myself to him; 
I say. when all this is considered, any body, that has the least pre- 
tence to good nature, gratitude or generosity, must needs know 
how to interpret my access to the King. Perhaps some will be 
ready to say, • This is not all, nor is this yet a fault ; but that I 
have been an adviser in other matters disgustful to the kingdom, 
and which tend to the overthrow of the Protestant religion and the 
liberties of the people.' A likely thing, indeed, that a Protest- 
ant Dissenter, who from fifteen years old has been (at times) a suf- 
ferer in his father's family, in tlie University, and by the Govern- 
ment for being so. should design the destruction of the Protestant 
religion ! This is just as probable as it is true that I died a Jesuit 

six years ago in America. Will men still suffer such stuff to 

pass upon them ? Is any thing more foolish, as well as false, 

than that because I am often at Whitehall, therefore I must be the 

author of all that is done there that does not please abroad .^ . 

But, supposing some such things to have been done, pray tell me, if I 
am bound to oppose any thing that I am not called to do ? I never 
•was a member of council, cabinet, or committee, where the affairs 
of the kingdom are transacted. 1 have had no office, or trust, and 
consequently nothing can be said to be done by me ; nor, for that 
reason, could 1 lie under any test or obligation to discover my opin- 
ion of public acts of state ; and therefore neither can any such acts, 
or my silence about them, in justice be made my crime. Volun- 
teers are blanks and cyphers in all governments. And unless call- 
ing at W hitehall once a day, upon many occasions, or my not be- 
ing turned out of nothing (for that no office is), be the evidence of 
mv compliance in disaiireeable things, 1 know not what else can, 
with any truth, be alleged against me. However, one thing ! know, 
that 1 have every where most religiously observed, and endeavour- 
ed in conversation with persons of all ranks and opinions, to allaj 
heats, and moderate extremes, even in the politics. It is below me 
to be more particular: but I am sure it has been my endeavour, 
that if we could not all meet ujon a religious bottom, at least we 
might upon a civil one, the good of England, which is the c(mimon 
interest of King and People : that lie might be great by justice, and 
we free by obedience; distinguishing rightly, on the one hand, be- 
tween duty and slavery ; and, on the other, between liberty and 
licentiousness. 



la MEMOIRS OF THE tIFE 

" But, alas lam not without my apprehension of the cause of this 
behaviour towards me, and in this I perceive we agree ; I mean my 
constant zeal for an impartial liberty of conscience. But if that be 
it, the cause is too good to be in pain about. I ever understood that 
to be the natural Right of all men ; and that he that had a religion 
without it, his religion was none of his own. For what is not the 
religion of a man's choice is the religion of him that imposes it ; so 
that liberty of conscience is the first step to have a religion. This 
is no new opinion with me. I have writ many apologies within the 
last twenty years to defend it, and that impartially. Yet I have 
as constantly declared that bounds ought to be set to this freedom, 
and that morality was the best ; and that as often as that was vio- 
lated, under a pretence of conscience, it was fit the civil power 
should take place. Nor did I ever think of promoting any sort of 
liberty of conscience for any body, which did not preserve the 
common Protestancy of the kingdom, and the ancient rights of the 
Government : for, to say truth, the one cannot be maintained with- 
out the other. 

" Upon the whole matter, I must say, I love England ; I ever did 
so ; and that I am not in her debt. I never valued time, money, or 
kindred, to serve her and do her good. No party could ever bias 
me to her prejudice, nor any personal interest oblige me in her 
wrong : for I always abhorred discounting private favours at the 
public cost. 

" Would I have made my market of the fears and jealousies of 
the people, when this King came to the crown, I had put twenty 
thousand pounds into my pocket, and an hundred thousand into my 
Province ; for mighty numbers of people were then upon the wing : 
but I waved it all ; hoped for better times ; expected the effects of 
the King's word for liberty of conscience, and happiness by it : and 
till I saw my friends, with the kingdom, delivered from the legal 
bondage which penal laws for religion had subjected them to, I could 
with no satisfaction think of leaving England, though much to my 
prejudice beyond sea, and at my great expense here, having in all 
this time never had either office or pension, and always refusing 
the rewards or gratuities of those I have been able to oblige. 

" IC, therefore, an universal charity, if the asserting an impartial 
liberty of conscience, if doing to others as we would be done by, 
and an open avowing and steady practising of these things, in all 
times, and to all parties, will justly lay a man under the reflec- 
tion of being a Jesuit, or Papist of any rank, I must not only sub«- 
mit to the character, but embrace it too ; and I care not who 
knows, that I can wear it with more^^pleasure than it is possible 
for them with any justice to give it me. For these are corner 
stones and principles with me ; and I am scandalized at all build- 
ings which have them not for their foundations. For religion it- 
self is an empty name without them, a whited wall, a painted sep- 
ulchre, no life or virtue to the soul, no good, or example to one's 
neighbour. Let us not flatter ourselves : we can never be the bet- 
ter for our religion, if our neighbour be the worse for it. Our fault 
is, we are apt to be mighty hot upon speculative errors, and break 
all bounds in our resentments ; but we let practical ones pass with- 



OT WILLIAM PENN. IS 

out remark, if not wftliout repentance : as if a mistake about an 
obscure proposition of faith were a greater evil than the breach of 
an undoubted precept. Sucli i\ religion the devils theniselves are 
not without; for they have both faith and knowledge but their 
faith (loth not work hy love, nor their knowledge by obedience. 
And if this be their judgment, can it be our blessing .^ — Let us not 
then think religion a litigious thing, nor that Christ came only to 
make us good disputants, but that he came also to make us good 
livers: sincerity goes further than capacity. It is charity that 
deservedly excels in the christian religion ; and happy would it 
be if where unity ends, charity did begin, instead of envy and lail- 
ing, that almost ever follow. It appears to me to be the way that 
God has found out and appointed to moderate our differences, and 
make them at least harmless to society ; and tlicrefore I confess I 
dare not aggravate them to wrath and blood. Our disagreement 
lies in our apprehension or belief of things ; and if the common en- 
emy of mankind had not the governing of our affections and pas- 
sions, that disagreement would not prove such a canker, as it is, 
to love and peace in civil societies. 

" He that suffers his difference with his neighbour about the oth- 
er world to carry him beyond the line of moderation in this, is the 
worse for his opinion, even though it be true. It is too little con- 
sidered by Christians, that men may hold the truth in unrighteous- 
ness ; that they may be orthodox, and not know what spirit they 
are of. So were the apostles of our lord : they believed in him, 
yet let a false zeal do violence to their judgment, and their unwar- 
rantable heat contradict the great end of their Saviour's coming, 
Love. 

" Men maybe angry for God's sake, and kill people too. Christ 
said it, and too many have practised it. But what sort of Chris- 
tians must they be, I pray, that can hate in his name who bids us 
love, and kill for his sake, that forbids killing, and commands love, 
even to enemies ? 

" Let not men, or parties, think to shift it off from themselves. 
It is not this principle, or that form, to which so great a defection 
is owing, but a degeneracy of mind from God. Christianity is not at 
heart; no fear of God in the inward parts ; no awe of his divine 
omnipresence. Self prevails, and breaks out, more or less, through 
all forms but too plainly, (pride, wrath, lust, avarice,) so that 
though people say to God. Thy will be done, they do their own ; 
which shows them to be true Heathens, under a mask of Christian- 
ity, that believe without works, a'.id repent without forsaking ; bu- 
sy for forms, and the temporal benefits of them; while true relig- 
ion, which is to visit the fatherless and the widow, and to keep our- 
selves unspotted from the world, goes barefoot, and like Lazarus is 
despised. Yet this was the definition the Holy Ghost gave of re- 
ligion, before Synods and Councils had the meddling witli it and 
modellinc'^ of it. In those days bowels were a good part of religion, 
and that to the fatherless and wii'ow at large, \^'e can luudly 
now extend them to those of our own way. It was said Iv ! im 
that could not say aniiss, ' Because iniquity abounds, the love of 
many waxeth cold.' Whatsoever divides man's heart from God 



14 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

separates it from his neighbour, and he tliat loves self more than 
God, can never love his neighbour as hjmself. For (as the apostle 
said) ' if we do not love him, whom we have seen, how can we love 
God, whom we have not seen?' 

" O that we coukl see some men as eager to turn people to God, 
as they are to blow tliem up, and set them one against another ! 
But, indeed, tliose only can have that pure and pious zeal, who are 
themselves turned to God, and have tasted the sweetness of that 
conversion, which is to power, and not to form ; to godliness, and 
not to gain. Such as those do bend their thoughts and pains to 
appease, not increase heats and animosities; to exhort people to 
look at home, sweep their own houses, and weed their own gar- 
dens. And in no age or time was there more need to set men at 
work in their own hearts, than tliis we live in, when so busy, wan- 
dering, licentious a spirit prevails ; for, whatever some men may 
think, the disease of this kingdom is sin, impiety against God, and 
want of charity to men. And while this guilt is at our door, judg- 
ment cannot be far oif. 

" Now this being the disease, I will briefly offer two things for 
the cure of it. 

" The first is David's clean heart and right spirit, which he ask- 
ed and had of God : without this we must be a chaos still : for the 
distemper is within, and our Lord said, all evil comes from thence. 
Set the inward man right, and tlie outward man cannot be wrong ; 
that is the helm that governs the human vessel ; and this nothing 
can do but an inward principle, the light and grace that came by 
Christ, which, the Scriptures tell us, enlightens every one, and 
hath appeared to all men.— It is preposterous to think that he, who 
made the world, should show least care of the best part of it, our 
souls. No : he that gave us an outward luminary for our bodies, 
hath given us an inward one for our minds to act by. We have it; 
and it is our condemnation that we do not love it, and bring our 
deeds to it. 'Tis by this we see our sins, are made sensible of tliem, 
sorry for them, and finally forsake them. And he that thinks to 
go to Heaven a nearer way, will, I fear, belate his soul, and be ir- 
revocably mistaken. There are but goats and sheep at last, what- 
ever shapes we wear here. Let us not therefore, dear friend, de- 
ceive ourselves. Our souls are at stake ; God will not be mocked ; 
what we sow we must expect to reap. There is no repentance in 
the grave : which shows that, if none there, then no where else. 
To sum up this divinity of mine, it is the light of Jesus in our souls 
that gives us a true sight of ourselves, and that sight that leads us 
to repentance : which repentance begets humility, and humility 
that true charitv that covers a multitude of faults, which I call 
God's expedient against man's infirmity. 

" The second remedy to our present distemper is this : Since 
all of all parties profess to believe in God, Christ, the Spirit, and 
Scripture ; that the soul is immortal ; that there are eternal re- 
wards and punishments ; and that the virtuous shall receive the 
one, and the wicked sufier the other : I say, since this is the com- 
mon faith of Christendom, let us all resolve in the strength of God 
to live up to what we agree in, before we fall out so miserably 



^F WILLIAM PENS. 15 

ijbout the rest in which we differ. F am persuaded, the change and 
comfort, which that pious course would briiii^ us to, would i!;o verjr 
far to dispose our natures to compound easily for all the rest, and 
we mi;i,ht hope yet to see happy days in poor England, for there £ 
would have so good a work begun. And how it is possible for the 
eminent men of every religious persuasion (especially the present 
ministers of the parishes of England) to think of giving an account 
to God at tlie last day, without using the utmost of their endeav- 
ours to moderate the members of their respective communions to^* 
wards those that differ from them, is a mystery to me. But this I 
know, and must lay it at their doors ; 1 charge also my own soul 
with it; God re(|uires moderation and humility from us ; for he is 
at hand, who will not spare to judge our impatiencf. if we have no 
patience for one another. The eternal God rebuke (1 beseech him) 
the wrath of man, and humble all under the sense of the evil of 
this day ; and yet (unworthy as we are) give us peace for his holy 
name's sake. 

" It is now time to end this letter, and I will now do it without 
saving any more than this : Thou sot'st my defence against popu- 
lar calumny ; thou seest what my thoughts are of our condition, and 
the way to better it ; and thou seest my hearty and humble prayer 
to Almighty God to incline us to be wise, if it were but for our own 
sakes. I shall only add. that I am extremely sensible of the kind- 
ness and justice intended me by my friends on this occasion, and 
that I am for that, and many more reasons, 

" Thy obliged and affectionate Friend, 

*' William Penn." 

In about a fortnight after the writing of this letter, the nation 
"being in a ferment on account of the arbitrary proceedings ofJames 
the Second, William Prince of Orange landed at Torbay. He was 
received there with open arms, as well as afterwards by the coun- 
try at large. Officers and men. abandoning their former banners, 
deserted to serve under him. The natiniial discontent indeed was 
such, that James found it necessary to leave the kingdom and to 
retire to France. In process of time, as is well known, the Prince 
of Orange and his consort were advanced to the sovereignty of the 
realm. 

The state of mind, which William Penn must have experienced 
on this sudden turn of things, may be imagined. He lost, by the 
flight of the King, one who with all his political failings had been 
his firm friend. But he lost (what most deeply afflicted him) the 
great patron, on whom he counted for the support of that plan of 
religious Toleration, for which chiefly he had abandoned his infant 
settlement in America, at a time when his presence was of great 
importance to its well-being. Neither had he any prospect that all 
he had laboured for or brought about would not, on account of the 
prejudices of the times, be utterly undone. Fallen too from pow- 
er, and from the protection which power gave him, he was left ex- 
posed to the popular indignation as a Papist and Jesuit^ and as one 
who had aimed to establish popery and arbitrary power in the king- 
dom. To return to America, though she presented to him a peace- 
ful asylum, he dared not, for tlut would have led persona to con* 
Q 



10- MaMOlHS OP THE Lttt 

elude that he had been guilty of what had been laid t^-Jiis charge. 
To stay in England was dangerous. Conscious, however, of his 
own innocence, he resolved to remain where he was, and to go at 
large as before, following those occupations by which he thought 
h« could best promote the g .od of h.s fellow creatures. 

But it was not long after this determination, before he felt the 
effect of the political change which had taken place ; for on the 
tenth of December walking in Whitehall, he was sent tor bv the 
Lords of the Council, v,fho werethen sitting. Here he underwent aa 
examination. In reply to some quesfions whic!i were put to him, 
Tie protested, that " he had done nothing hut what ho could answer 
before God, and all the Princes in the world ; that he loved his 
country and the Protestant relioion above his life, and had never 
acted against either ; that all he had ever aimed at in his public 
endeavours was no other than what the Prince himself had declared 
for ; that King James had always been his friend, and his father's 
friendj and tliatin gratitude he himself was the King's, and did ev- 
er, as much as in him lay, influence him to his true interest." Not- 
withstanding this manly ant! open declaration, and that nothing 
appeared against him, the Council obliged him to give security for 
his appearance the first day of the next term. Having complied 
with their mandate, he was discharged. 

With resoect to America, ti.ings did not go on to his satisfaction 
there, for he deter-mined upon another change in the government 
by reducing the Executive t«» three persons Instead of five Com- 
missioners it was to consist of a Deputy Governor and two Assist- 
ants. This arrangement he comiounicated by letter to President 
3Lloyd, who had before sii^nified his intention of resigning his of- 
fice, in which he offered him the Deputy Governorship. " Now, 
though I have," says he in this letter, " to please thee, given thee 
a quietus from all public business, ray intention is to constitute 
thee Deputy Governor, and two in the character of Assistants, ei- 
ther of whom and thyself to be able to do all as fully as [ myself 
can do : only I wait thy consent to the employment, of which ad- 
vise me." * 

President Lloyd still persisting in his resignation, William Penn 
was obliged to look out for another person, and in the course of his 
inquiries fixed upon Captain John Blackwell. He therefore noti- 
fied this appointment to the Commissioners. In his letter to them 
he stated that when h& determined upon this change, it " was not 
because he was dissatisfied with their care or service." He then 
adverted to the character of Blackwell. " For your ease I have 
appointed one that is not a Friend, but a grave, sober, wise man, 
to be Governor in my absence. He married old General Lam- 
bert's daughter; was Treasurer to the Commonwealth's army in 
England, Scotland, and Ireland : I suppose independent in judg- 
ment. Let him see what he can do awhile. I have ordered him 
to confer in private with yon, and square himself by your advice. 
If he do not please you he shall be laid aside. 1 desire you to re- 
ceive him with kindness, and let him see it, and use his not be- 
ing a Friend to Friends' advantage. He has a mighty repute 
of all sorts of honest people, where he has inhabited; which, 



OF WILLIAM PENM, 17 

with my own knowledge, t as made me venture upon him." He 
then spoke of his quit-rents as if still in arrear and as if Blackwell 
had been appointed as being ii particularly pnper person to super- 
intend the collection of them. '• 1 have rou^ii people to ceai with 
about my quit-rents, tliat yet cannot pay a ttn-pound bill, but 
draw, draw, draw, still upon me. And it oeing his talent (Black- 
well's) to regu'ate and set t''ings in method, easj and just, 1 have 
pitched upon him to advise ti er( in.*' It appears by the same let- 
ter as i*r he iiad been dissatisfies! with the conduct of the Assembly. 
*' 1 will add this," says he, •' that the Assembly, as they call them- 
selves, are not so without Governor and Privy Council*, and that 
no Speaker, Clerk, or Hook, belongs to them j and that the people 
ha e their Representatives in the Privy Council to prepare Bills, 
and the Assemblj', as it is called, has only the power of aye or no, 
yea or nay If they turn debaters, judges, or complainers, thejr 
overtlirow the Charter quite in the very root of the constitution of 
it, [or it is to usurp the Privy Council's part in the Charter, and to 
forfeit the Charter itself." 

At this time Captain Blackwell was in New England, and of 
course not far from his new Government : but his Commission had 
been sent him, and with it a letter, in which we find among others 
the following instructions: " That 'hings should be transacted in 
his name by the style of his Patent only, namely, absolute Propri- 
etor of Pennsylvania ; that C^ommissions signed and sealed by him 
in England should be sufl[icient warrants to pass them under the 
Great Seal; that the Laws which were in being should be collected 
and sent over to him in a stitched book by the very first opportu- 
nity ; that the Sherifts of thi^ respective counties should be charged 
with the receipt of his rents and fines, as in England, and give se- 
curity to the Receiver-general forthetimej that care should be 
taken of the roads and highways in the country, that they might 
he straij;ht and commodious for travellers, having been improperly 
turned about by planters for their own convenience ; that speedy 
and impartial justice should be done, and virtue cherished and 
vice punished ; that fines should be in proportion to the fault and 
ability of the offender ; that feuds between persuasions and nations 
should be extinguished, as well as by good conduct prevented ; and 
that the widow, the orphan, and the absent, might be particularly 
regarded in their rights." 

• It is to be observed here, that vlien he changed the Executive to five Comini3<- 
sioners, the Council still existed separately, and SO it did wlien he changed It to Deput* 
f^overnor and two Assistants.. 



1# i^EMorns or the life 



CHAPTER ir. 



«(S. l6B9-^appmrs according to his hail—^o witness being found 
against him^ is discharged'— Toleration-net passes'—the greai 
privileges it conferred — his joy on the occasion — the great share 
he had in bringing it about — affairs of Pennsylvania. 

The time drew near, wlien William Penn was to answer the 
cliarges, which might be made against him, in a public Court. Ac- 
cordiuglv, oti the last day of Easter Term he made his apj;earance 
there, \fter waiting a considerable time, not one person could be 
produced against him. Not one person could be found who would 
either say that he was a I'apist or Jesuit, or who would even try 
to prove that he had aided in any manner the late King in an attempt 
either to establish popery or arbitrary power. Accordingly noth- 
ing having been laid to his charge, he was discharged in open 
Court. 

Soon after this he had the satisfaction of seeing the great Act of 
Toleration passed by King. Lords, and Commons. It is true, indeed, 
that this noble Act. did not come up to the extent of his own wishes. 
And yet how vast the change ! All Dissenters were now excused 
from certain penalties, if they ivoidd only take the Oaths to Govern- 
ment. They were allowed to apply for Warrants for those houses 
which they intended to worshipin. a.nd the Magistrates were oblig- 
ed to grant them ; and provided they worshipped in these ivith the 
doors not shut^ they were n>>t to be molested. There was a more 
particular exemption in the Act to the (luakers for the same pur- 
pose. Here then was an end of those vexatious arrests, painful im- 
prisonments, and deaihs in bonds, which had afflicted and desolat- 
ed the country for years. From this time men could go to their re- 
spective churches, an<l worship God in security in their own way. 
This must have been a most gra^^ifying consideration to one to 
■whose labours the Act itself was in part owing: for, while at the 
Hague, he had greatly impressed the mind of the Prince of Orange, 
now King William, in its favour. He had been the means of bring- 
ing over also many of his own countrymen, and these in the Legis- 
lature, to its support. For in the course of his numerous publica- 
tions he had examined the question thoroughly, and diffused light 
concerning it through the kingdom. He had held up pictui es of 
individual suffering, as it had occurred in all its varied shapes to 
public view. He had appealed to reason and humanity on the sub- 
ject. He had anticipated and combated objections. By urging 
James the Second to issue out, as speedily as he did, and then to 
renew, his indulgence to tender consciences, he had given an op- 
portunity to persons of public character, and to his fellow-citizens 
at large, to see what would be the effects of Toleration. It had 
clearly appeared that, while this indulgence continued, the nation 
■was in a state of unexampled quiet, and that its interest had been 
greatly promoted by an extraordinary diffusion of industry, pros- 
perity, and happiness. And here it may be observed, that Dr. Bur- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 19 

net, who was then Bishop of Salisbury, and wholiad taken an ac- 
tive part in fav:»ur ot" the Act in question, gives, in the " History 
of liis own Times," those as reasons why it had passed, which VVil» 
Jiam Penn hud lonji; before given as reasons why it ought to pass. 
One would think indeed, t'lat the one had made use o' the very- 
words of the other. '* Wise and ^^ood men," savs Burnet, '" did 
very much applaud the quieting of the nation by tlie Toleration. It 
seemed to be suitable both to tlw. spirit of the Christian rei gion 
and to the interest of the nation. It was thought very unreasonable 
that, w'lile we were com^jlftining of the cruelti/ of he Church of 
L'ome. we sbould/a// into such pi notices among onrseivfs^ and this 
w!>ile we were eniragingin a >var. in t ;e progress of which we would 
n-'i'd ^.^' unitid strength <ifthc whole notimi.^^ 

Ti:is great acthavir.g pass d. William Fenn thought of return- 
ingtM America But as t'le authors of infant proji^-cts, when ushp 
ered into the world, feel interested both in watching their pro- 
gress and their fa'e, so he felt his inclination checked in tlirs re- 
spect Tor a time from the same cau>e. He felt a desire to see how 
this new-born babe would be received in the kingdcnn ; how far the 
popular lurv would be likely t(» retard, or its favour to promote its 
growth. Inipressef! by such feelings, he resolved to protract his 
stay to t!ie ensuing year. 

In the beginning of this year Captain Blackwell left Boston for 
Philadeli;hia. On his arrival t'lere he delivered his appnintment 
to the Commissioners, and. as soon as it was acknowledged by 
these, he took into his hands the reins of the Government. After 
a suitable time he summoned the Council and \ssembly. He made 
a speech to the latter, after which he held himself ready to pro- 
ceed upon the business of the Province. He had not, however, 
been long in office before a misunderstanding took place between 
liim and some of the Coumil. so that the public aflfairs were not 
managed with the desired harmony. He found it often difficult to 
get so many of them together as would make a legal meeting for 
business, though more than this number were known to be in the 
city at the time. He not only saw, but lamented to the Assembly, 
that dissentions still existed among them. At <»ne time the Keep- 
er of the Great Seal refused him the use of it on w'^at he (Black- 
well) thought (though he might have been mistaken) a proper oc- 
casion. These ditterences between the Deputy Governor and the 
two Legislatures were early reported to William Penn. All sides 
made their complaints to him. Of course he was called upon to 
onsider them. Having done this hp wrote to Blackwell, and ad- 
vised his resignation. The latter, finding that he could not do 
what had been expected of him in the administrati >n of the Prov- 
ince, honourably resigned Iiis (»ffice,and rtturned to England, after 
a short stay in Philadelphia of oidy a few months. 

In a letter written by William Penn to a friend therp, he tin- 
folded more particularly than before the reason wUy I.e had ap- 
pointed Blackwell to the high station of Deputv Governor. It 
appears that it had always been his wish to confer the Govern- 
ment on a Quaker, as one in whom he himself would have had the 



r 

^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIF£ 

most confidence : but there was no Quaker fit for it who would 
undertake it, persons of that persuasion being generally averse 
from high political employments. Obliged then to seek out else- 
where, he preferred one who was a stranger to the Province, un- 
der a notion that he might be more i'upartial and more reverenc- 
ed : but of all strangers Blackwell secme to liim to be the most 
eligible ; for, says he, " he is in England and Ireland of great re- 
pute for ability, integrity, and virtue. I thought 1 did well. It 
was for good. God knows a .d Urc no end of iny own." 

Wliat was the cause of" dispute between Blackwell and the other 
branches of the Legislature is not known. It is possible that 
Blackwell might have made himself obnoxious by attending to the 
business of the quit-rents more closely than was liked. It is pos- 
sible, again, that he might have disgusted some by the levity ot 
his deportment ; for he was a polished man : he had mixed with 
great and fashionable people, and ha^d seen the world. The mem- 
bers of the Legislature, on the other hand, were mostly of the 
class of Puritans, and of severe manners. They had been ren- 
dered still more sour by persecution. It is possible therefore that 
they might at their first interview, under these opposite aspects, 
have appeared cool and reserved to him ; and that he, fancying 
this appearance real, might have looked shy upon them. It is pos- 
sible, again, that they might have been prejudiced against him as 
a mditary man. But whatever was the case, certain it is, from 
the letter just mentioned, that William Penn was induced to sus- 
pect, after an attentive consideration of all the evidence before 
him, that Blackwell's peevishness did not so much arise from any 
misconduct in him in the first instance as in them. " You see," 
says he, " what I have done upon the complaints ; but 1 must 
say, that his peevishness to some Friends has not risen out of the 
dust without occasion." 

On the departure of Blackwell the Executive Government re- 
verted, according to the Constitution, to the Council, of which 
Thomas Llovd, not willing to desert the State at this juncture, re- 
sumed the Presidency ; so that, having passed through the two 
changes, fir-t of five Commissioners, and then of a Lieutenant 
Governor with two Assistants, it came hack to its old form, as 
settled by the first General Assembly in 1683. 

There are several letters extant, which Willia n Penn wrote to 
his Friends in America this year. In the first of these, which was 
written in the early, part of it and before the coronation of Wil- 
liam and Mary, he repeated the cause which had so long hindered 
him from seeing them. " Europe," says he, " looks like a sea of 
trouble Wars are like to he all over it this summer. I strongly 
desire to see you before it be spent, if the I^ord will ; and I caa 
say in his siglit, that to improve my interest with King James 
for tender consciences, and that a Christian liberty might be le- 
gally settled, though against my own interest, was that which has 
separated me from you chiefly." In the same letter he manifested 
his great love and tender regard for them as a people. " If," says 
he, " it be with you as I can say it is with me in the presence of 



or WILLIAM PENN. j| 

€rod, then arc we one with him ; for neither length of days, nor 
distance of place, nor all the many waters between us, can separ* 
ate my heart and affection from you." 

In a second he invited them to that divine love, which he has 
just been describing to have experienced himself, as their j;;reatest 
earthly blessing. •' Ami now, Friends," says he, " I have a 
word more for you, and that is this ; tliat Faith, Hope, and Chari- 
ty, are the great helps and marks of true Christians ; hut above all 

Charity is the Love of God. Blessed are they who come to it, 

and who hold the truth in it, and work and act in it; for they, 
though poor indeed in spirit of their own. are yet rich in God's ; 

though they are meek, they inherit. This will preserve peace 

in the church ; peace in the state ^ peace in f imilies ; peace in 
particular bosoms. God Almighty draw, I beseech him, all your 
hearts into this heavenly love more and more, so that the work of 
it may shine out more and more to his glory and your comfort !" 

In a third, which was a private one to Thomas Lloyd, he ad- 
vised him of a present which he had sent him, and " which he 
was to value by the heart, and not by the thing itself." 

In a fourth, which was addressed to the same, after the Presi* 
dentship of the Council had reverted to him, he instructed him to 
set up a public Grammai .School in Philadelphia, which he, Wil- 
liam Penn, would incorporate by a charter at a future time. 

In a fifth, which was addressed to the Council after their restor- 
ation to power, he expressed himself t!:us : " 1 heartily wish you 
all well, and do beseech God to guide you in the ways of righte- 
ousness and peace. I have thought fit. upon my further stop in 
these parts, to throw all into your hands, that you may all see the 
confidence I have in you, and the desire I have to give you all 
possible contentment. I do earnestly press your constant atten- 
dance upon the Government, and the diligent pursuit of peace and 
virtue ; and God Almighty strengthen your hands in so good a 

work ! If you desire a Deputy Governor rather, name three or 

five persons, and I will name one of tl.em. I do not do this to lay 
a binding precedent, hut to give you and the people you represent 
the fullest pledges I am able, at this distance, of my regard to 
them. Whatever you do, I desire, beseech, and charge you all to 
avoid factions and parties, whisperings, and reportings, and all 
animosities ; that, putting your common shoulders to the public 
work, you may have the reward of good men and patriots ; and 
so I bid you heartily farewell." 



SRh MEMOIRS OF THE LI7K 



CHAPTER III. 

A. 1690 — letter of thanks to a Friend — is arrested again on a charge 
of corresponding icifh Jnmi'S the Second — his open and manly 
defence before King William>—is made to find hail — appears in 
Court and is discharged — prepares for returning to Pennsylva- 
nia^—.is again arrested — tried — and acquitted — writes to the 
widow of George Fox on the death of her husband — is on the 
point of sailing for Fennsylvania, hut accused by V'dier — Con- 
stables sent to take him— 'the voyage stopped — goes into retire^ 
ment — affairs of Fennsylvania. 

William Penn, though he saw no disposition either in the King 
or in the Parliament to amend the I'oleration-Act, so as to bring 
it nearer to his own wishes, had yet the pleasure to find that it had 
at least become so popular, except among some of the Clergy, that 
it was likely to maintain its ground. Finding therefore that he 
must be satisfied with it as it tlien stood, and being at the same 
time thankful to Divine Providence for what had been so far ob- 
tained, he resolved to embark for Pennyslvania in the course of 
the present year. 

Aoout this time he wrote to a Friend on the following occasion. 
He himself had been in the habit of writing letters to the Duke of 
Buckingham, who was then deceased. His friend had fallen in 
with some of these, and was then collecting them, with a view of 
preventing them from passing into improper hands ; for he suppos- 
ed probably, that they might contain political matter; and as Wil- 
liam Penn was then daily watched by the new Government as a 
person suspected to be hostile to it. tliere might be expressions in 
them which might be so twisted and misinterpreted, if his enemies 
should see them, as to afford a handle for putting him to trouble. 
The letter then, written by William Penn, was a letter of thanks 
to his friend for the service intended him, and ran thus : 

" Though nothing of an interest of my own was the reason of 
the ancient esteem I have had for thee, yet that only is the motive 
at this time to this freedom ; for being informed by Jer. Grimshaw, 
that some of my letters to the late Duke of Buckingham are in thy 
hands, and that thy wonted kindness to all of our communion had 
shown itself in my regard by collecting them apart, to prevent 
their falling under any improper notice, T thought myself obliged 
both to return my acknowledgments for that friendly caution, and 
to desire thee to let them follow him they were written to, who 
can he no more known to the living. Poor gentleman ! I need not 
trust another hand than that, which was unwilling any other should 
be trusted with them but mv own. I know not what the circum- 
stances of that time might draw from me ; but my only business 
with him ever was to make his superior quality and sense usefid to 
this kingdom, that he might not die under the guilt of misspending 
the greatest talents that ivere among the nobility of any country. 
However, in the rubbish of those times and the late extraordinary 



OF WILLIAM tENf?. 3S- 

l?evolution let them lie, and 1ft us all think of this only way to 
t'le peace and lia;ipiness we pretend to seek, namely, to give God 
his due out of us,and then we shall have our du^s out of one another; 
and without it let us not wonder at tlie nimble turns of the world, 
nor reflect upon the mischiefs that attend them. They are the nat" 
ural eflTecrs of our breach of duty to God, and will ever follow it. 
We, like the Jews, are full of jealousy, humour, and complaint, 
and seek for our deliverance in the wrong place. When we grow 
a better people, we shall know better days ; and when we have 
cast oif Satan's yoke, no other can hold longer upon us. Thing* 
do not change. Causes and eftects are ever the same ; and they 
that seek to over-rule the eternal order, fight with the winds, and 
oveithrow themselves But what is this to my subject? I close 
"with the true sense of all thy tenderness to our poor folks, and re» 
garils to myself, beseeching God, that more than the reward of him 
that ii;ives a cup of cold water in the name of a Disciple may be thy 
portion, when this very trifling world may be no more. 

" I am thy affectionate, true Friend, 

" William Penn.'* 
Siion after the writing of this letter, and while he was turning 
his thoughts towards the things to be done preparatory to his 
vovage, he was arrpsted by a body of military, and brought again 
before the Lords of the Council. The charge then against him was, 
that he was holding a traitorous correspondence with the late King, 
who was then in France. Upon this he desired to appeal to King 
William in person. His request was granted. The King and 
Council appeared together. A letter was then pro<luced, which 
had been written to him by James, and which had been intercept- 
ed by Government on its way, in which he (James) *' desired him 
(Penn) to come to his assistance, and to express to him the resent- 
ments of his favour and benevolence." The question first put to 
William Penn was, why King James wrote to him ? He answered, 
that it was impossible for him to prevent the King from writing to 
him, if he, the King, chose it. He was then questioned as to what 
resentments these were, which James seeme<i to desire of him. He 
answered, *' he knew not ; hut he supposed the King meant that 
he should endeavour his Restoration. Though, however, he could 
not avoid the suspicion of such an attempt, he could avoid the 
guilt of it. He confessed he had loved King James, and, as he had 
loved him in his prosperity, he could not hate him in his adversity 5 
yes, he loved him yet for the many favours he had conferred on 
him, though he could not join with him in what concerned the state 
of the kingdom. He owned again, that he had been much obliged 
to the King, and that he was willing to repay his kindness by any- 
private service in his power ; but that he must observe inviolably 
and entirely that duty to the State, which belonged to all the sub- 
jects of it ; and therefore that he had never had the wickedness 
even to think of endeavouring to restore him that crown, which had 
fallen from his head ; so that nothing in that letter could in any 
wise fix guilt upon him." This defence, which was at once manly, 
open, and explicit, had its weight with the King, so that he felt 
himself inclined to dismiss him as an innocent person j but some 

4 



^, MEMOlftS OF THE LITE 

of the Council interfering, he, to please them, ordered him to give 
bail to appear at the next Trinity Terra. After this he was per- 
naitted to withdraw, and to go at larre as hefore. 

There can be no doubt hut tliat, in a sitting which occupied two 
hours, many more questions were put to. and of course answers 
given by, William Penn, than those wh ch hiive been now coiiimu- 
nicated ; but tuese are all that have come down to us, and but for 
Gerard Croese they might have remuiii'-d as if they had never been. 
That his account, as now given, is i,enerally true is highly credi- 
ble ; for the editors of that splendid work generally termed " Pi» 
cart's Religious (Justoms and Ceremonies of all Nations," sp^ak- 
ing of William Ptnn, allude to the defence which he luade <m this 
occasion. "This," say they, "was confirmed by a letter King 
James wrote to Penn from France after tl^e Revolution had been 
brought about by King William the Thii d. Penn was strictly ex- 
amined concerning this carrespnndenrp. His answer was nobl?^ 
■gener ous, and wise : hut party-animosity made it be looked upon, 
in the hurry of spirits at that time, as a barefaced espousing King- 
James's cause. And most Protestants*, chiefly news and libel- 
writers, thought it no less a crime than high treason to profess a 
friendship for that Prince." 

William Penn being now at large for a time, was so conscious of 
his own innocence, and therefore so ♦eailess of the consequences 
jof his approaching trial, that he actually employed himself in pre- 
paring for his voyage to Pennsylvania. At the time appointed he ap- 
peared in Court : but here, as before, no one coming forward as 
evidence against him. he was honourably discharged. 

Being once more at liberty, he returned to his home, when his 
voyage occupied his attention agiin. At this time the country was 
in great consternation on account of an expected invasion by the 
French. The French fleet had already beaten the Enfjlish in con- 
junction with the Dutch, and was then hovering off" the coast. 
King William too was in Ireland. The Queen therefore was oblig- 
ed to exert herself in defence of the nation. This she did by call- 
ing out the militia and in other vva}"^ : bu*^^ in order to strike terror 
at this moment into the supposed conspirators with France, she 
published a proclamation for apprehending Kdward Henry, Far] of 
Lichfield ; Thomas, Earl of Aylesbury : William, Lord Montgom- 
ery ; Roger, Earl of Castlemain ; Richard, Viscount Preston; 
Henry, Lord Bellasis; Sir Edward Hales: Sir Robert Thorold ; 
Sir Robert Hamilton ; Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe ; Colonel Ed- 
ward Sackvile ; Licutenant-Colonel William Richardson ; Major 
Thomas Soapei ; Captain David Lloyd ; Edmond Elliott ; Mar- 
maduke Langdale ; Edward Rutter : and W illiam Penn. Here 
then we see William Penn brought into trouble again; for the 
above Proclamation was not out long, before he was again appre- 
hended and sent to prison. He was obliged to lie there till the 
last day of Michaelmas Term, when he was brought up before the 
King's BenchCourt, Westminster, for trial. The result was equal- 

• Picart's book was a Roman Catholi* publication, printed at Paris, and afttrr 
x'Wds translated into the English language. 



OF WILLIAM PEHH. 89 

ly honourable as in the former cases ; for, though evidence appear^ 
cd, it failed to prove any thing against him. 

Wi[lia>n Penii began now to tiiink that there was no security for 
his person in England. No sooner had he been legally and hon- 
ourably acquitted of one charge, than he wi»s arrested upon anoth- 
er. Under these circumstances he looked to his departure frora 
England both with anxiety and delight. Having accomplished ia 
a great degree the principal object for which he had crossed the At- 
lantic, he longed now with the most earnest longing for a quietre» 
treat in Pennsylvania. He use*i accordinjjly double diligence for 
that purpose. He was already far advanced in his preparations 
for the voyage. The vessel had been taken up, which was to car= 
ry him over. Numbers of persons also, in consequence of certaia 
proposals, which he had puljlis'ied this summer, for a new settle- 
ment in Pennsylvania, had been ptepsring to accompany him, some 
in his own, and others in other vessels. The Secretary of State 
also had gone so far as to appoint him a convoy, which was to be 
ready on a given day. 

Just at this time George Fox, his beloved Friend, and the foun- 
der of the religious Societv of tie Quakers, died in London. It 
fell to his lot to communicate this event to his wife, who was then 
in Lancashire. His letter was \evy short. " I am to be," says be, 
*' the teller to thee of sorroM'ful tidings in some respect, which is 
this, that thy dear Husband, and my beloved and dear Friend, fin- 
ished his glorious testimony this night about half an hour after 
nine, being sensible to the last breath. O, he is gone, and has left 
us in the storm that is over our heads, surely in great mercy io 
him, but as an evidence to us of sorrows to come !" In alluding to 
his powers as a minister of the Gospel, he says, " a Prince indeed 
is fallen in Israel to-day ;" and to his ii reproachahle life, " he 
died, as he lived, a lamb, minding the things of God and his 
Church to the last, in an universal spirit." After this, when the 
i'uue came, he attended his remains to the grave. Here he spoke 
publiciv, and for a considerable time, to about two thousand per- 
sons who attended the funeral ; thus paying the last earthly res* 
pectin his power to his deceased Friend, and thus endeavouring 
to make even his death useful to those present. 

It appeared now. as if he had little more to do than to take leave 
of his numerous friends, and to embark. But alas, how short-lived 
and transitory are sometimes our best hopes ! In an instant all his 
happ}' dreams, all his expeitations came to nothing : for, but a daj^ 
or two before the funeral of George Fox, a wretch of the name of 
Fuller, one whom Parliament afterward had occasion to declare a 
cheat and an impostor*. h?id come forward with an accusation a- 
gainst him upon oath, so that messengers hadlbeen sent to the very 

• The House resolved, " That William Fuller vras a notorious impostor, a cheat, 
and a false accuser, having scandalized the Magistrates and the Government, ahnS" 
ed tliis House, and falsely accused several persons of lionour and quality ;'' and they 
resolved on an Address to His Majesty to comnnand his Attorney Geneial to pros, 
ecute the said impostor. He was accordingly prosecuted, and sentenced to *ht 
pillory, in which he is ««iU to l»ve ^taod without «itt^t majesty or lemtute^ 



«*■ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

funeral itself witH a warrant to apprehen<l him ; but, mistaking, 
the hour, they arrived too late for their purpose. Thus his vo^'age 
Tvas entirely st)ppe(l for the present year. 

Unable now to leave the kingdom with honour, the vessels pro- 
ceeded without him to Pennsylvania. He wrote by them of course 
to explain the causes which had hindered him from arriving at the 
same time, but none of these letters have been preserved. One 
however is forthcomins;, which he wrote by a subsequent convey- 
ance, and which relates to the event in question " liy this tin^e," 
says he, " thou wilt have heard of my troubles, the only hinderanc« 
of my return', being m the midst of mv preparatiDns, with a great 
company of adventurers when they ca ne upon me. The jeal- 
ousies of some anl unworthy dealin-^s of others have made way 
for them '■ but under and over it all the ancient Rock has been my 
shelter and comfort ; and I hope yet to see vour faces with our an- 
cient satisfaction. The Lord grant it, if it be for his glory, whose 
I desire to be in all con<lition& ; for this world passeth away, and 
the beauty of it fadeth : but there are eternal habitati ns for tlie 
faithful, among whom I pray that my lot may be, rather than a- 
mong the Princes of the earth. 

" I desire that my afflictions mav ceasp, if not cure, your ani- 
mosities or discontents among yourselves, if yet they have contin- 
ued, and that thou wilt, both in Government and to my Tommis- 
sioners, yield thy assistance all thou canst. — By all this God may 
prepare me to be better for future service, even to you there. I 
ask the people forgiveness for my long stay ; but when 1 consider 
how much it has been mv own iireat loss, and for an ungrateful 
generation, it is punishment. It has been twenty tltousand pounds 
damages in the country, and about ten thousand pounds here, and 
to the Province five hundred families. But the wise God. who can 
do what be pleases, as well as see what is in man's heart, is able 
to requite all ; and I am persuaded all yet shall work together 
for good in this very thing, if we can overlook all that stands in 
the way of o'lr views God-wa'd in public matters.— See that all be 
done prudently and humbly, and keep down irreverence and loose- 
ness, and cherish industry and sobriety. God Almighty be with 
you. and amongst you, to his praise, and to your peace !" 

William Penn, after this new accusation by Fuller, determined 
upon retirement. To have gone to Pennsylvania, merely with a 
view of making his escape, would have been useless, for he would 
have been equally amenable there to British laws. But to have 

fone there, even if no laws could have reached him, would have 
een disgraceful. It would have been, while such an accusation 
hung over his head, to lose his reputation, and of course his influ- 
ence and future usefulness in his own Province. To have deliver- 
ed himself up voluntarily, on theo ther hand, into the hands of the 
Magistracy, and this after three Trials, in all which he had been 
acquitted, seemed unnecessary, and to answer no public end. This 
indeed would have been to sacrifice his health in a prison ; and 
then, after a fourth acquittal, there would have been no security 
that some profligate wretch would not have accused him again, and 
this in the midst of expensive prepatations for another voyage. He 
judged it therefore best to retreat from the world for a while. By 



this resolution he did not throw himself wantonly In the way of 
the Goveinment, nor did he endeavour to Hy from it. If those in 
the Administration chose to press another trial, they might dis- 
cover where lie was, or they might seize him if he ventured abroad ; 
for his person had been often marked, and was generally known. 
It was his belief, too, that innocinit men, who offered up their 
prayeis to tlie Almij^litv, were usually directed for the best, and 
that it became him therefore to remain in Kngland, and, shutting 
himself up from the atfairs of tlie world, to w^iit humbly for guid- 
ance as to his luture path. Accordingly he took a private lodging 
in London, where he devoted himself to study an«i religious ex- 
ercises, and where he was occasionally visited by a few friends. 

The absence of William Penn began now to he seriously felt in 
the Province j for about this time the symptoms of disorder appear- 
ed, which afterwards greatly disturbed it, and which, it is suppos- 
ed, had he resided there, never wouM have taken root at all ; be- 
cause the open, candid, and impartial way in which he conducted 
tlip Government gave no opportunities for jealousies or suspicions ; 
and because his temperate and conciliating manners, and his read- 
iness to hear and redress grievances, a-d his power so to do, heal- 
ed them when produced. Among these symptoms it appeared as 
if the people of the Territories v\ished to have separate interests 
from those of the Province. William Penn had by Charter con- 
nected bot.i of them in Legislation and Government, and had con- 
sidered them as one people. He had of course given them equal 
privileges, and a share in the Government in proportion to their 
respective populations. But yet dissatisfaction began to creep in. 
The inhabitants of the Territories, conceiving that public appoint* 
ments oug'.t to be more evenly distributed as it respected them, 
than they appeared to be, began to think that there ought to be 
separate establishments for the said Territories and Province ; 
that is, one set of civil Officers for the one, and a distinct set for 
the other, to be chosen by the Representatives of each in Council. 
The first consequence of this notion was the following. William 
Clark, Luke Watson, Griffith Jones, John Brinkloe, John Cann, 
and Johannes d'Haes, six of the Council belonging to the Territo- 
ries, met in the Council-room privately and without any official 
summons, and, considering themselves as a legal Council, issued 
forth Commissions for constituting Provincial Judges and other of- 
ficers. Such an act, it must be obvious, would give rise to disturb- 
ances : for the Officers who were appointed by them would not like 
to give up their places ; and, the election itself being void, it was 
not propable that they would be continued. Hence the real and 
pretended electors would divide into two parties, each having its 
partisans. It was therefore necessary to come to some determi- 
nation on this point, and accordingly a Council was legally sum- 
moned for the purpose. 'I'his Council decreed, after exposing th« 
absurdity of the proceedings in question, " That all Entries, Or- 
ders, and Commissions, made and given forth by the above six 
Members, were deemed null and void from that day ; of which all 
Magistrates, Officers, and others concerned, were to take due n»* 
tice." Thug the matter was settled for the present year. 



^ ^EMOrRB OF THE LIFE 



CHx^PTER IV. 

^. 1691-- 'confrinwes in retirement— 'new Proclamation for his op- 
priihension — becomes more iinpoputar than ever—jails under ike 
censure ofsonn' of kis own socLettj— 'Writes in cunaequence a gen- 
eral letter to the members of it — is visited in his retirement — 
w^iessag sent to him there by John Locke — •ivrites a preface t& 
Barclay^ s Jpolugy-^affairs of Fennsylvania. 

William Pexn had been but little more than six weeks in his 
retirement, when another ProclaHiation came out fur the apprehen- 
sion of him, and of Hr. Turner, Bisliop of Ely, and of James Gra- 
h ime. This Proclamation was in consequence of the accusation of 
Fuller. It was founded on the charj^e. that he and the two just 
mentioned had been accomplices in a conspiracy with the Earl of 
Clarendon, the Viscount Preston, and two others of the names of 
Elliott and Ashton, (t'le latter of whom had been executed in con- 
sequence only a month before,) to send intelligence to, and to in- 
vite over to England, James the Second, who was then in BVance. 
The clamour now was greater than ever againsthim. He was load- 
ed with reproaches from almost all quarters. All those who dis- 
liked him, and there were too many of tlds description, took tltis 
new opportunity of reviling him. In t!ie first place, those of the 
Church ofEngland, except Dr. Tdlotson and a very few other liberal 
individuals, hated him with an implacable hatred, because he had 
taken up the cause of t!ie Dissenters. Hence Papist, Jesuit^ Rogue, 
and Traitor, resounded where they went. In the second place, 
the Dissenfers hated him because they supposed that under the^ 
mask of religious liberty, he had been promoting the schemes of 
James in behalf of popery and arbitrary power. They propagated 
therefore the same epithets with the same industry and virulence. 
Thirdly, the: e was at this time a numerous class of foreign Protestants 
in the kinjjdom, namely, those who had fled from France after the 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantz. All these joined also in the cry 
of his condemnation. They had themselves smarted un»ler the 
lash of Poperv, and had therefore no mercy upon the man who 
•would restore James, and thus revive it in the land which was to be 
now the land of their habitation. Add to this, that he began to fall 
under the censure of many of his own religious Society. This 
grieved him more than all. He had borne up against the oppro- 
brium of the woi Id, and had made no attempt to counteract it ; but 
he could no longer be silent under this new wound ; and therefore 
he addressed to the members at large, through their Representa^ 
tives met in their Annual Assembly, the following letter : 
" My beloved, dear, and honoured Brethren, 

*' My unchangeable love salutes you : and though I am absent 
from vou, yet I feel the sweet and lowly life of your heavenly fel- 
low ship, by whichjl am with you, and a partaker amongst you, whom 
I have loved above my chiefest joy. Receive no evil surmisings, 
lioither suffer hard thoughts, through the insinuations of any, to 



or WILLIAM PENN^ 29 

Siiter your minds against me, your afflicted hut not forsaken Friend 
and Brotiier. My enemies are yours; and, in the g;round. mine 
for your sake; and tliat God seetli in stcret. and will una day re- 
\^'ard openly. My privacy is not because men have sworn truly, 
but falsely, against me : ' for wicked men have laid in wait for me, 
and false witnesses have laid to my charge tlings I knew not,' who 
have never sought nivself, but the good of all, through great ene- 
mies, and have done some good, and would have don^ more, and 
hurt no man ; hut always desired that Truth and Righteousness, 
Mercy and Peace, might take place amongst us. Feel me near 
you, my dear and beloved Brethren, and leave me not, neither 
forsake me, but wrestle with him that is ahle to prevail against the 
cruel desires of some, that we may yet meet in t' e congregatioa 
of his people, as in days past, to our mutual comfort. The ever- 
lasting God of his chosen, in all generations, be in the midst of 
you, and crown your most solemn Assemblies with his blessed 
presence ! that his temler, meek, lowly, and heavenly Love and 
Life may flow among you, and that he would please to make it a 
seasoning and fruitful opportunity to you, desiring to be remem- 
bered of yoti before him, in the nearest and freshest accesses, who 
cajinot forget you in the nearest relation, 

" Your faithful Friend and Brother, 

"William Penk." 
While he was living in retirement he was visited by a few select 
friends, who were mostly of the same religious profession with 
himself. These administered to him consolation in their turn. 
There was one person, hovve\^er, not of the Society, by whose grate- 
ful remembrance of him at this afflicting season, he vras peculiarly 
gratified. His old friend and fellow collegian. John Locke, had 
come home in the fleet which had brought the Prince of Orange to 
England. Finding t'lat he had been persecuted in the manner de- 
scribed, he desired to be the instrument of procuring a pardon for 
him from King VVilliam. It may be remembered that William 
Penn had made a similar offs^r to Locke tvhen the latler was in 
banishment at the Hasrue. It is remarkable that the same answer* 
followed on both occasions. William Penn persisted in declaring 
that he had never been guilty of the crfme alleged against him, 
and that he could n 't therefore rest satisfied with a mode of liber- 
ation, the very terms of which would be to the world a standing 
monument of his guilt. 

AftC!' this we hear nothing more of William Penn for the re- 
mainder of the year, except that he wrote a Preface to the Works 
of the celebrated Apologist, Robert Barclav, and another to those 
of John Burnyeat, an eminent minister of his own religious Soci- 
ety, and with whom he had been in habits of friendship for many 
years. 

As for his affairs in America, they bore :'n aspect worse than 
ever. Though the Decree of the Provincial Council, as mentioned 
in the last chapter, had been carried into effect, it did not remove 
the dissatisfaction which had sprung up among the inhabitants of 
the Territories. They still conceived they had not their share of 
"ou-blic appointments, qnd thereff^re they r*»qu<»«ted ^he Council to 



5sT> MBMdiRB oy TftB tire 

propose a Bill to the Assembly, to enable nine of the members or 
tiie Territories or any six of them, to appoint three Judges, and 
aiso all other O Beers; and that no other Judges and Officers should 
be I nposed upon them for the said Territories but such as were 
so chosen. 

Tins proposal was transmitted to England by Thomas Lltyd. 
William Penn was much hurt on receiving it. Willinsr, ho vever, 
to show the people of the Territories tliat he was not inatteiitive 
to their complaints, he prop )sed to the Council, which consist'^d of 
both parties, as a first effort at conciliation, the choice of any of 
the three Governments of which they had had a trial. The Exec- 
utive might be invested in a Council, or in five Comm-ssioners, or 
in a Deputy G'>veraor. They could any of them tell which of 
these t'ley had found the most impartial in the distribution of pub* 
lie places. 

On the publication of this oflfer. it appeared to be the wish of the 
people of the Province that a Deputy (rovernor should exercise the 
power in question : an! af^cordingly without debiy they requested 
that Thomas Lloyd migiit be appointed to the office. But no soon- 
er was t!\is reqii'^.st made, than he members for the Territories 
protested azainist it. Thev preferred, thev said, the five Commis- 
sioners, and most of all thev disliked a Deputy Gnvernor. They 
gave the reasons for the'r preference : but the true one was, that, if 
a Deputy governor were appointed, they would be burthened ia 
part with the expense of his support. 

As soon as this prefereiice was understood, with the unworthy 
motive wb*(ch had induced it, Thomas Llcjvd wrote a lett-^r to the 
membei's for the Territories, and seat it to them by four respecta- 
ble persons to Newcastle, who might confer with them on the sub- 
ject. In this letter he warned tliem au:ainst the effects of their con- 
duct, both upon the Province and Territories, and patriotically 
pronised, on bis part, that as long as he remained in the station 
of Denutv Governor, he would not burthen the latter with the 
charge of a sin'i;le penny for himsi^lf, nor would he ver accept of 
any maintenance for himself from them at any future time, unless 
they themselves should voluntarily make a request to him for that 
purpose. But neither letter nor embassy would do ; and the con- 
sequence -as, that these memb rs, regardless of the confusion to 
w'nch their rashness mi^ht expose the country, not only ceased to 
attend in their legislative capacities, but prevented others from be- 
ing elected in their places • and, what is more remarkable, they 
■were supported in these tlieir proceedinjrs by Colonel Markham, 
the relation of William Penn. 

Thomas Lloyd was now acknowledged as Deputy Governor by 
the Province, and acted in that capacity, though he was not ac- 
knowledged as such bv the Territories. When this was reported 
to William Penn, he was much displeased. He was displeased 
first with Thomas Llovd. He considered his acceptance of such 
a broken Office, of sucli an half Government, as pregnant with mis- 
chief, because likelv to confirm the notion of a division of interests 
between the Province and Territories, as before described. His 
displeasure, however, was soon removed j for the Council, in a let* 



OF WILLIAM PENN. Si 

Iter to him, declared that Thomai Lloyd, instead of being a gainer 
by any public office he had held, had considerably worsened his 
»wn estate thereby ; so that self-interest could have been no 
motive with him for accepting the new Commission. They said, 
too, that he was a great lover and promoter of concord, that he dis- 
liked a public life, and that he never would have accepted the 
Commission but by the importunity of his friends and of the Prov- 
ince itself, William Penn then began to be angry with the Ter- 
ritory-men. He co'ild not help blaming them for theiringratitude* 
They had considered it as a great mercy to be united to the Prov- 
ince, and now they wished to be separated fi om it, though tied to 
it by Charter. He considered their move ments to have sprung from. 
no other source than that of ambition. '• Tiiis striving," says he 
in a letter to a friend, '• can arise from nothing else ; and what is 
that spirit, which would sooner <1ivide the child than let things run 
on in their own channel, but that which sacrifices all bowels to 
ivil'ulness .^ Had they learned what this means, ' I will have mer- 
cy and not sacrifice,' there had been no breaches nor animosities 

between them, at least till I had come." However, it was not 

the being angry with the one or with the other that would curedis- 
sentions and save his possessions. The case was to be consider- 
ed impartially and coolly, with a view to the best remedy ; and dis- 
patch was necessary. Suffice it to say, that, after mature delibe- 
ration, he concluded it to be best to confirm the Deputy Governor- 
ship to Thomas Lloyd, which would please the Province, and, as 
an equivalent on the other side, to appoint Colonel Markham his 
Deputy Governor of the Territories : and accordingly he sent out 
Commissions for that purpose. 

Besides the schism between the Province and the Territories, 
another of a different nature, a religious one. bad sprung up. One 
George Keith was the author of it. He is said to have been a man 
of quick natural parts and considerable literary attainments, fond 
of disputation, acute in argument, and confident and overbearing 
in the same. He had been for some time an acknowledged minis- 
ter among the Quakers. He how found fault with the discipline of 
the Society He ridiculed some of its customs, and certain also of 
its religious tenets, though he had once written in their defence. 
He passed contempt on the decisions of some of their Meetings, 
Soon after this he founded a new sect. Those who followed him 
he called Christian Quakers, and all the others Apostates. By his 
plausible manner and powerful talent of speaking he had drawn so 
many after him as to fill one Meeting-house. Thus, bv dividing 
the Quakers, he added two parties to those which political differ- 
ences had made before > 



5^ MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 



CHAPTER V. 

jj. 1 692— conh*n?/P5 in retirement — writer " Just yneafnirea^^— gen- 
eral content'i of this work — also '* J Key''^ whereby lo know and 
distinguish the Religion of the Quakers — general contents of it 
-^also '• JVew Athenians no noble tiereans^'' — affairs of Fennsyl- 
vania. 

"William Penn continued in retirement ; and it is remarivalile 
that he was never disturbed bv constable, magistrate; or any other 
officer of justice. His friends frequently visited him. Among otlier 
objects which interested his mind during this period, he was par- 
ticularly anxious to promole harmony in his own religious Society, 
and to defend it from the attacks of its enemies Disput* s concern- 
ing discipline still continued among the members of it; but these had 
taken a new turn. There were some, for example, who saw no 
reasons why there should be meeting's of women to do anv part of 
the business of the Society separate from the men. VV'ill'am Pena 
therefore, to do away this notion, argued the case in a little work, 
to which he gave the following title. " Just Measures, being an 
Epistle of Peace and liove to such Professors of Truth as are un- 
der Dissatisfaction about the Order practised in the Cliurch of 
Christ." 

He lamented in this work that they, who were one in faith and 
worship, should be divided as to the mere management of the 
Church. Had they been divided as to the former points, this 
would have been a serious cause of difference, because the con- 
science would have been concerned in it. But the matters in dis- 
pute had no such relation. They related to mere modes of govern- 
ment or formality in order, but not to the essentials of religion. 
At tlie same time the Discipline, though it was not a matter of 
conscience, embraced a care which had a wide range of operation 
for good. It was the business, for example, of ail Churches to 
take care of the births, marriages, and funerals of their members; 
to look to the poor and necessitous, the young, the aged, and infii m 
among them ; and particularly to those who were morally weak 
and diseased ; so that by wholesome admonition they might assist 
in curing the latter, as well as in trving to prevent similar disor- 
ders in others. Now there must be forms of Discipline or (Miurch- 
government, or the care of such important matters could not be 
carried on. But were not women in the si«ht of God, and ac- 
cording to the light of the Gospel, parts of the Church of Christ, 
as well as men ? And. if they were parts of this Church, ought 
they not to become helpers in the Church's business ? But. be- 
sides, it must be obvious that, when women came under the disci- 
pline of the Society, women were more fit to interfere than men, 
that is, they were fitter persons th:in men to have the care iind 
oversight of their own sex. This was the general substance of 
his essay on this subject. 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 33 

It happened at this time, tliat the Quakers begnn to be attacked 
by s me of other religious deiioiniiutions as to tlieir doctrinal 
creed, after a long interval, during which scarcely any one had 
disturbed them on this account. Many beL,an, but paVticuhirly 
among the Baptists who lived at Deptford, to mis epresvnt their 
principles ; that is, they gave out their own perversions of the 
Quakers' doctrines, and called these their Creed. These per- 
versions soon t ame to the knonlidge of William Perm, who, after 
having diligently collected them, brought out a publication called 
*' A key, opening the Way to every (apaciry how to distinguish 
the Religion professed by the People called Quakers, from the 
Perversions and Misrepresentations of their Adversaries ; with a 
brief Exhortation to all Sorts of People to examine their Ways 
and their hearts, and turn speedily to the Lord." 

The way in which he managed his Key was this. First, he 
gave out the general head of tiie doctrine which had been misre- 
presented. Under this head he placed the proposition or propo- 
sitions as thev contained the doctrine in its perverted state. Un- 
der this again he gave the proposition or propositions as thi?y con- 
tained the doctrine as it was received hy true Quakers, l^pon the 
latter he then reasoned, taking care to show the difference between 
the meaning of the two. The general heads of the doctrines were 
these : '' The light within, what it is, and the Virtue and Benefit 
of it to Man — Infallibility and Perfection — The Scriptures, their 
Truth, Authority, and Service — The holy Spirit of God, and its 
Office with respect to Man and the Ministry — The holy Three, 
or Sci'ipture Trinity—The IMvinity of Christ — The Manhood of 
Christ—Christ Jesu*;, his Death, and Sufferings — Good Works- 
Water Baptism and the Supper — the Resurrection and eternal 
Recompence' — -Civil Honour and Respect — Civil Government " 
The propositions ander these general heads were drawn up with 
great conciseness, and vet with remarkable perspicuity. The 
pamphlet indeed, which contained them, was a masterly perform- 
ance, and reached the twelfth edition even in the lifetime of ita 
author. 

The Quakers were attacked also in a periodical paper, which 
was published in London at this time, and which was called ''The 
Athenian Meixury." In no less than three numbers of the said 
paper, objections were raised both to their praitice and doctrines. 
They were called persecutors on account of their discipline, and 
silly enthusiasts for refusing a civil oath. They were charged 
with speaking contemptibly of the Scriptures, of denying tliem to 
be the word of God, of turning them into allegories, of rejecting 
the notion of a Trinity, also the notions of the resurrection of the 
body and of the plenary satisfaction of Christ. These and similar 
charges appeared in the same paper. William Penn thougl t it right 
to answer them. This he did in a work which he called " The 
New Athenians no noble Bereans,'" though in his " Juet Meas- 
ures" and in his " Key" together he might be said to have an- 
swered them before. 

While he was employed in these works, his mind was deeply 
affected by a circumstance which seeiued to point to an issue m^- 



S4 



MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 



teriallj connected with his domestic happiness. It was but too 
apparent that the health of liis wife began lo be seriously impair- 
ed ; and at this time the symptoms, which had before shown them- 
selves, had broken out into actual sickness. Neither the disor- 
der itself, nor the cause of it, has been handed down to us. It is 
certain, however, that the great trials, difficulties, and afflictions, 
under which her husband had laboured and was then labouring, 
must have affected her mind ; and it is therefore not improbable, 
that this affection was the original cause of her complaint. 

The intelligence which was sent him from America during this 
period, was both pleasing and distressing. In the first place, it 
was a matter of no small consolation to him to learn, that the 
Commissions, which he had sent out for two Deputy Governors, 
had been the instruments of restoring tranquility to his possessions 
even beyond his expectations. The people of the Province were 
pleased with his confirmation of the appointment of Thomas Lloyd, 
because the latter had been the object of their own chdice : and 
those of the Territories were pleased with the appointment of 
Markham : first, because he had espoused their cause ; and se- 
condly, because, having him for a Deputy Governor, they had 
their own separate Council also ; and from one or both of these 
all appointments to civil offices would be made out of themselves 
for their own district. The Deputy Governors too acted in har- 
mony, so that they agreed to write a joint letter to their Gover- 
nor, of which the following is a copy : 
" Worthy Governor, 
** These few lines, we hope, may much ease thy mind in refer- 
ence to thy exercises concerning the affairs of thy Government 
here, by informing thee, that with unanimous accord we rest satis- 
fied with thy two Deputations sent for tiie Executive Government 
of the Province and Territories annexed. And thy Deputies 
concurring amicably at this time to act as one general Govern- 
ment in legislation, we have proceeded in preparing jointly some 
few Bills, that thereby our present united actings may be as well 
published as the respective services of the Government answered. 
What particular transactions of moment, which have occurred 
upon our calm debates of the choice of Three, we refer to the 
Minutes for thy satisfaction. We heartily wish thee well ; and 
with longing expectations desire thy speedy return to us, where, 
we doubt not, thou wilt find a most grateful reception, and better 
face of affairs than may seem to tliee there at this distance. So 
bidding thee adieu at this time, we remain 

" Thy faithful and well-wishing Friends, 

" Thomas Lloyd, 

" William Markham." 

With respect to the other part of the intelligence, it appeared 
that Keith had increased the religious schism before mentioned. 
He had drawn off with him so large a portion of persons, as to 
have set up Meetings in divers places. He had however, in con- 
sequence of these proceedings, been excommunicated or disown- 
ed by those who had remained faithful at their post. Exasperated 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 85 

at this, he had made himself doubly troublesome. He had pro- 
ceeded to vilify the Magistrates, and this in cases where, if they 
had not acted as they did, they would not have done their duty. 
One ins^tance of this will suffice. A man of the name of Babit, 
with some others, had stolen a small sloop from a wharf in Phila- 
delphia, and these, in going down the river with it, had committed 
other robberies. Intelligence of this having been given to the 
Magistrates, three of them gave out a warrant in the nature of an 
huo and cry to take them, with a view of bringing them to punish- 
ment. It so happened that the men were taken and brought to 
justice. Now as the Magistrates who granted this warrant were 
all Quakers. Keith had gone about and represented their conduct 
on this occasion as a violation of their religious principles : for he 
considered the apprehension of the offenders as a species of war 
against their persons ; and against war, they the Magistrates, pre- 
tended to bear their testimony as a religious people. From one thing 
he had proceeded to another. He had published virulent books, 
reflecting upon the Magistrates in other respects, endeavouring 
thereby to degrade them in the eyes of their inferiors. For one 
of these publications he had been presented by the Grand Jury of 
Philadelphia, and had afterwards been tried, found guilty, and 
fined. Notwithstanding this, he was still following the same dis- 
orderly career. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Jl, 1693 — continues in retirement — is deprived of his Government 
by King William— ~his forlorn situation at this period — resolves 
upon returning to I'ennsylvania — letter to that effect— 'but ispre- 
vented hy embarrassed circtimstances— writes " Fruits of Soli- 
tude'"^— preface and contents of the same — also " Essay towards 
the Fresenf and Future Htate of Enrope^^-— analysis of the latter 
—letter to JV*. Blandford — is heard before King William and his 
Council, and acquitted — death of his wife — her character — af- 
fairs of Pennsylvania. 

The intelligence which William Penn had received last from 
America, as it related to Keith, gave him, on the very first perusal 
of it, the most serious uneasiness, not only because the conduct of 
the latter tended to spread still wider the seeds of confusion in the 
Province and Territories, but because he foresaw, as several of his 
letters at the time testify, those unhappy consequences which very 
soon afterwards resulted to himself. They who were at the head 
of affairs in England, were no strangers to the disorders which had 
taken place in his Government during the last two vears ; and, as 
he himself had become obnoxious to them, they had taken care al- 
ready to make the most of them to the King. They bad already 
held up to him the quarrels between, the Province and Territories, 



Sp* MEMOIRS or THE LIFE 

as arguments to prove that he, William Penn, was incapable of 
governing the new country whicli had been granted to iiim. As 
soon therefo e as the sciiisia of Koith with all its ramifications and 
consequences became known, thej considered their arguments as 
confirmed, ilence they spread reports of it, but particularly of 
his trial and punishment by fine, throughout the kinguowj. by the 
pains taken to communicate the latter, they occasioned a great 
sensation both in Westminster-hall and in the two houses of Par- 
liament. They soon afterwards affirmed, that Pennsylvania was 
in a state of ruin, and that nothing could save it but taking away 
the Government from William Penn. Not a moment, they said, 
was to be lost in resoting to this expedient ; and so rapidly was 
this notion disseminated, and industriously impressed upon the 
King and Queen, that by a Commission granted by William and 
Mary to Colonel Fletcher, the Governor of New>York, to take 
upon him the Government of Pennsylvania and the Territories 
thereunto annexed, William Penn was, very soon alter tlie news 
had arrived, deprived of all anihority over the sanw, — and this be- 
fore he had titiie to explain himself on the subject, or to throw in 
any reasons in bar of the appointment which had taken place. 

One may more readily conceive than describe the feelings wliich 
must have sprung up in his mind, when the news of this cruel 
measure was conveyed to him. All his hopes and prospects of giv- 
ing to the world a pattern, as he had imagined, of a more perfect 
Government and of a more virtuous and happy People, were now 

over. His fortune miglit now be considered, not as having been 

prudently and benevolentlv expended in America, but as having 

been absolutely thrown away. Removed from the high situation 

of a Governor of a province, he was nov/ a persecuted exile. • 

Dashed down from the pinnacle as it were of eminence and of fa- 
vour in his native country, he was now living between privacy and 

a gaol. Keith, from having been once his confidential friend, 

hail become now a traitor. His wife, who was on the bed of sick- 
ness, and in a state of visible decline, brought on no doubt by a deep 
feeliny; f r his misfortunes, was now subjected to the weight of a 

tenfold trial from the same cause. Add to this, that his nan^e 

had become a name of public reproach. Individuals even of his 
own religious Society, as I mentioned in the former chapter, had 
deserted him ; but novv, to a!i;gravate the case, he had fallen in the 
esteem of a considerable number of those who belonged to it.* He 

• Tliere can be no doiibt of this fact : not that the G,\iakers ever considered him 
as a Papist, or as e:uilty of the cbarfje brought against him by Fuller as contained 
in the last Proclamation, but thathf had meddled mi,re -with potitus, or •uith the con' 
cerns of the Government than became a member of their Christian body, thoUs^h they al- 
lowed that he took such a part often out of pure benevolence to others I have a 
memorandum to this effect, left by Thomas Lower in his own l.and-writing, dat- 
ed at the latter end of the present year, which is as follows : 

" Underwritten is wtiat was upon my mind to offer, and which 1 have since of- 
fered to Wil'iam Penn as an expedient jor a reconciliation beltvixt him and Friends. 

"• First, for William Penn >o write a tender, reconciling; epistle to all Friends as 
in the love and wisdom of Ood it shall be opened unto bim, and in the closure there- 
of to insert as followeth, or to the following effect : 



OF WILLIAM PENN. Sf 

had fallen in the esteem of those whom he " had loved above his 
chiefest joy." He had become therefoiea sort of outcast of society. 
It seemed indeed as if the measure of his affliction was now full. 
But happily for him. he found resou xes equal to the pressure which 
bore upon him. Had he been a mere earthly-minded man, all liad 
been wretchedness and despair. We know not to what lengths a 
situation so desperate mis;)it have driven him. But he still kept 
his reliance on the great Rock which had supported him. Heknev/ 
that human life was full of vicissitudes ; hut he believed that they 
who submitted with patience and resij^nation to the d-vine will 
would not be ultimately forsaken, and that to such even calamities 
worked together for their good. 

Having lost his Government, one of the most important ques- 
tions tliat occurred to him in the present year was, not how he 
might regain it, hut what it becume him to do that the Province 
and Territories might suffer as little as possible by the change. 
A new Governor had already been appointed, and this a mere 
military man. who, knowing nothing of his plans, might introduce 
a system which would counteract, if not sap the foundation of, his 
own, and thus prevent all the good he hail expected from the lat- 
ter. Ti "•>pea. -^ that, -/ter havin,"; considered the subject, he de- 
termined upon going to Pennsylvania, titough ii is evident that he 
could only have yone there as a private person. He knew, how- 
ever, that even in this capacity he could be useful there. He 
could take care, for ifistance. b^' being -^k ih» tpot, that the Con- 
stitution, which he had made so many sacrifices to sett'e, should 
not he infringed without a reasonable complain^ or protest on t,''e 
part of himself and otheis. He says, in a letter written at this 
time to certain Friends in Pennsylvania jointly, t''at. '* consider- 
ing how things then stood and mig;ht stand with them it was neces- 
sary that he should speedily return.'' But. alas I he had become 
so embarrassed in his circumstances, that he knew not how to get 
over to them. '' His expences," he said in the same letter, " had 
been great in King James's time, and his losses great in this 
King's time, the one being at least seven thousand pounds, and the 
other above four thousand pounds, together witli four hundred and 
fifty pounds a vear totally wasted in Ireland. He suggested 
therefore t') his Friends to find out a hundred persons in the Prov- 
ince who would each of them lend him one hundred pounds, free 
of interest, for four years. He would give them his bond for the 
li»an. The money, if raised then, v/ould be ten times more to 
him than the same sum at anv other time, and he would never 
forget the kindness of those who should lend it. In this case he 

" ' \nA if in any tilings rluTingf these hie. revolutions I liave concprnefl myself 
either by vvovls or vvTitinjrs (in love. pity, or o-ond-will to any in distress.) further 
than consisted with Trutli's honour or the Chiirchi's peace 1 am sorry for it ; and the 
Govfrnment h-uinw passed it hv. I desire it n-ay be by You also, that so We rrajr 
bea'l kept and pre.'^erved in the holy tie and bond of f.ove and Peace to serve God 
and his Truth in our creneration to the honour of liis holy Name, which Mill render 
Us acceptable to God. and more preciou': one to another ; and fina'lv brinsr Us, 
through Jesus Christ our \ ord to the partjcioation of the ii,,mortal crown whicbij 
prepared for all tlmt continue faithful ii) weli-doing unto the €nd.' " 



38 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

would bring his Nvife and family over with him." It appears, by 
this letter, as if he could have obtained permission for the voyage. 
King William, indeed, had often expressed a regard for him ; but 
the King could not always resist the opinion of his Ministers, or 
of those who frequented his Court. 

As he was to continue in his retirement, at least till an answer 
came to this letter, he had no other way of benefiting mankind in. 
the interim than by his writings. He undertook for this purpose 
a little work, which was to consist of the result of his own expe- 
rience on many important subjects. He had seen much of life. 
He had travelled in his own country and in Ireland. He had 
visited France, Holland, and Germany. He had lived in Ame- 
rica, then reputed a new quarter of the globe. He had surveyed 
therefore men under different tongues, colours, climates, man- 
ners, religions, and governments. He had himself experienced 
prosperity and adversity. In the course therefore of his chequer- 
ed experience he had found out, he believed, what was wisdom and 
what was folly, w'.fat would turn to solid enjoyment, and what to 
vexation of spirit. He determined therefore to put down in his 
retirement such Maxims on different subjects as he thought he 
could warrant as substantial, and, when thus collected, to publish 
them. This book he accordingly completed after no small la- 
bour, and brouglit it out under the title of " Some Fruits of Soli- 
tude, in Reflections ami Maxims relating to the Conduct of hu- 
man Life." The preface to it, which is both lively and instruc- 
tive, will give the reader sime notion of its value. 

" The Enchiridion, Reader, I now present thee with, is the 
fruit of Solitude, a school few care to learn in, though none in- 
structs us better. Some parts of it are the result of serious re- 
flection, others the flashing of lucid intervals, written for private 
satisfaetion, and now published for an help to human conduct. 

" The author blesseth God for his retirement, and kisses that 
gentle hand which led him into it ; for, though it should prove 
barren to the world, it can never do so to him. 

*' He has new bad some time he could call his own, a property 
he was never so much master of before, in which he has taken a 
view of himself and the world, and observed wherein he has hit 
or missed the mark ; what might have been done ; what mended 
and what avoided in human conduct ; together with the omissions 
and excesses of others, as well societies and governments as pri- 
vate families and persons. And he verily thinks, were he to 
live over his life again, he could not only with God's grace serve 
him, but his neighbour and himself, better than be hath done, and 
have spven years of his time to spare. And yet perhaps he hath 
not been the worst or the idlest man in the world, nor is he the 
oldest. And this is the rather said, that it might quicken thee, 
Reader, to lose none of the time that is yet thine. 

" There is nothing of which we are apt to be so lavish as of 
time, and about which we ought to be more solicitous, since with- 
out it we can do nothing in the world. Time is what we want 
most, but what, alas, we use worst, and for which God will cer- 
tainly most strictly reckpn with us when time shall be no more ! 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 39 

It is of that moment to us in reference to both worlds, that I can 
hardly wish any man better than that he would seriously consider 
what he does vith his time ; how and to what ends he employs 
it ; and what returns he makes to God, his neighbour, and him- 
self, for it. Will he never have a ledger for this ? for this, the 
greatest wisdom and work of life ? To come but once into 
the world, and trifle away our true enjoyment of it, and of 
ourselves in it, is lamentable indeed. This one refleciion waald 
yield a thinking person great instruction ; and, since notiiing be- 
low man can so think, man, in being thouglitless, must needs fall 
below himself ; and that, to be sure, such do as are unconcerned 
in the use of their most precious time. This is but too evident, if 
we will allow ourselves to consider that there is haidly any thing 
we take by the right end, or improve to its ji'st advantage. We 
understand little of the works of God eitlier in nature or grace. 
We pursue false kno>vledj;e. and mistake education extremely. 
We are violent in our affections, and confused and immethodical 
in our whole life, making that aburthen which was given as a bles- 
sing, and so of little comfort to ourselves or others, misapprehend- 
ing the true notion of happiness, and so missing of the right use of 
life antl way of happy living : and till we are persuaded to stop, 
and step a little aside out of the noisy crowd and incumbering 
hurry of the world, and calmly take a prospect of things, it will 
be impossible we should be able to jnake a right judgment of our- 
selves, or know our own misery. But after VvC have made the just 
reckonings, which retirement will help us <o, we shall begin to 
think the world in great measure mad, and that we have been in 
a sort of Bedlam all tins while. Reader ! whether young or old, 
think it not too soon or too late to turn over the leaves of thy past 
life, and be sure to fold down where any passage of it may affect 
thee ; and bestow the remaind^n- of thy time to correct those 
faults in thy future conduct ! Be it in relation to this or the next 
life, what thou wouldst do, if what t'lou hast done were to do 
again, be sure to do as long as thou livest upon the like occasions. 
Our resolutions seem to be vigorous, as often as we reflect upon 
our past errors ; but, alas, they are apt to grow flat again upon 
fresh temptations to the same things ! The Author does not pretend 
to deliver thee an exact piece, his business not being ostentation, 
but charity. It is miscellaneous in tlie matter of it, and by no 
means artificial in the composure. But it contains hints that 
may serve thee for texts to preach to tliyself upon, and which com- 
prehend much of the course of hutnan life ; since, whether thou 
art parent or child, prince or subject, master or servant, single or 
married, public or private, mean or honourahje, rich or poor, pros- 
perous or unprosperous, in peace or controversy, in business or 
solitude, whatever be thy inclination or aversion, practice or duty, 
thou wilt find something not unsuitably said for thy direction and 
advantage. Accept and improve what deserves thy notice. The 
rest excuse, and place to account of good-will to thee and the 
whole creation of God." 

This v/as the Preface. With respect to the "Book itself, I am 
sorry I have no room for extracts from it. I must therefore satis- 
fy mvself with laying before the reader the bare topics on which 

6 



40 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

ln> gave his Reflections and Maxims, as they relaled to human life* 
T.iey stand in the work in the loUowin.. order : Ignorance — Edu- 
cation — Pride — 'JiUXUiy — Inconsideration — Disappointments and 
Res'i!.nation — Murmurings — Censoriousness — Bounds of Chaiity 
— Frugality and Bounty — -Discipline — -Industry — Temperance — ■ 
App.trel' — .iliglit Marriage — Avarice — Friendship — Qualities of a 
J", iend — V^a tion and Conduct — Reparation — Rules of Conversa- 
ti Ml — Eloquence — Temper — Truth — Justice — •'«ecrecy — (.'om|il;i- 
c,-iic,' — Shifting — Interest — .nquiry — Rigiit Timing — Kno\\lfdi;e 

— vVit— -Obedience to Parents Bearing — Promising' — Fidelity 

Office of Master— of servant — Jealousy — Posterity — a Country 
Lite — \rt and Project — Tempoial Happiness — Respect — Hazard 
—detraction — Moderiition — 'Trick — Passion — Personal Cautiori 
—Balance — Popularity — Privacy — Government — ^A private Life 
— A public l^ife — .Qualifications — Capacity — Clean Hands — Dis- 
patch'—- Patience — Impartiality — Inditferency — Neutrality — A 
Partv— "Ostentation — Compl te Virtue — Religion. 

Among the other su'jects vvhic' occupied his attention, at this 
time, was that of War. He vvasdeeply atfectedby the miseries it oc- 
casioned ; so that, on a renewed contemplation of tliese, he found 
his mind turned as it wen- to the consideration how an evil so mon- 
strous might he prevented. A plan for this puipose gradually un- 
folded itself, built upon a hint suggested by another, which hecom- 
inui»ic»tod in a work (the next fruit of his s .litude) called '• An 
Essay towards the present and future Peace of Kuro]ie," a short 
analysis of which I fcl it a duty to present to the reader. 

In the four first sections he laid it ilown. that Peace was a thing 
most desirable ; that Peace w^as promoted more by Justice than by 
War ; and that Justice was as much the natural and expected re- 
sult of Government, as Government itself was the natural and ex- 
pected result of .Society. He theo proposed his Plan for the great 
object contained in the title of h's Essay. He was of opinion, that as 
Governments liehltlieir Parliaments. Sessions, and Assizes, at home, 
to over-rule man's passions and resentments, so that they who had 
been injured by these might obtain justice at home ; so he saw no 
reason why Princes might not, by a mutual concurrence, esrablisli 
Assemblies or Diets abroad, to over-rule the same had affections, 
V'ith a view of obtaining justice in tlieir ilisputes with one another. 
He suggested therefore the idea of a great Diet on the Continent 
for this puipose that is, that the Princes of Europe would, for the 
same reason wbich first occasioned men to enter into Society, 
nnmelv. Love of Peace and Order, establish one sovereign Assem- 
blv. before which all differences between tliem shoidd he brought 
•which couhl not be terminated by embassies, and the judgment of 
■which sho'dd be so bindi'i r. that, if any one Government offering 
its cas'« for decision did not abide bv it, the rest should compel it. 
Such a Diet might Iiave one session in the year, or one in two or 
tliTPP vears, or as often as occasion might require. 

He observed in the fifth section, that Peace was usually broken 
U'^on tliree nrinciples : namelv. either to keep, or to recover, or to 
add. As to t'e nrincinle of addition or a'!;grandizement, this t' e 
Diet would immediately rfuash. As to the two former, it would 
settle them by a cool and judicious discussion. 



OF WILLIAM PENV. 41 

In the sixth section he refened to the Titles upon which differ- - 
ences might arise among States, l itle, lie !?aid. Vv'us eit er by long 
and undoubted succession, as in England, France, and otner parts ; 
or by election, as in Poland and in the Empire ; or by mariiage.as 
wlien the family ol the Stuarts c;ime to England ; or by purd^ase, 
as was frequently the case in Italy and Germany ; or by c<tnqiiest, 
as by the lurks in Chiistendom, Now the last title oidy was 
questionable ; and the Diet would decide this by deternuning, 
as a general rule, how far back Titles should go to make an adiq^t- 
ed right. 

He su,a:gested in the seventh section, t'hat every independent 
Country should send Delegates to this Diet according to its popu- 
lation, revenue, and otiier public marks. If Germany were to send 
twelve, France ten, and others in tlieir due proportion, the whole 
Diet for Europe need not consist of more than ninety persons. 

To avoid quarrels about Precedency, he proposed in the eightii 
section, that the Delegates sliould preside by t"rns,or in the good 
old V'enetian wav, by seciet ballot. All complaints should be de- 
livered in writing, in the nature of Memorials. They should be 
written in the Latin or French language. Nothing should pass 
but by the concurrence of three-fourths of the Delegates. J«iurnals 
shoulil be kept of the Proceedings in Trunks, which sli juld have as 
many ditrerent locks as there were sets of Delegates. 

In the ninth section he anticipated and answered objections to 
his Plan. In the tenth he showed the advantages of it. And in 
the eleventh he drew his conclusion. Here he stated, that it was 
the intention of Henry the Fourth of France to have obliged the 
Princes of Europe to some such balance as this, had he not been 
takeji off by the hanil of Ravilliac. " His example," says he, 
*' tells us that this is Jit to he done ; Sir William Temple's History 
of the United Provinces shows us, by a surpassing instance, that 
it may he done ; and Europe, by her incomparable miseries, that it 
ought to he done. My share is (miy in thinkins of it at this junc- 
ture, and putting it into tlie common light, for the j eate and pros- 
perity of Europe." 

Among the private letters which he wrote at tliis time, one has 
fallen into mv hands, which, as it shows the warmth of feeling with 
which be pursued his friendsliips, and the pious state in which his 
mind was almost constantly preserve<', I have thought it proper to 
copy. It was dated London, the eleventh of September, and ad- 
dressed to Nathaniel Blandford, at Stratford, and ran thus : 
" Dear Friend, 

" I was surprised last night when I was told of thy great illness, 
and weakness, and desire to see me. Surely had I ever heard it I 
should have broken through* all my exercises to have seen thee ; 

• Tt appears from this sentence tliat. tlioug^h he was an exile inlocJeinp'S in Lon- 
don, he ha \ not formed the resohition of never stirriiior out of doorts ; for he would 
have visited his friend Blandford, had lie known of his indisposition before. It is 
to be presumed, therefore, that he went from home whenever other fit occasions 
presented themselves. I mention this merely as a mark of the consciousness of his 
own innocence, because h s person had been so noticed, and had become so familiar 
to people in London, that the Government mi8;ht have casil; apprehendtd hun, 
when on these Q2;cursioBS, had it been so inclined. 



42 MEMOIRS OF THE tIFB 

and I cannot express my trouble that my landlord should not have 
told it me, though ordered by Jos. B. seventh day week ; and truly 
I wonder Joseph never hinted it himself. I now dispatch my kins- 
man this morning to hear ot the state of tliy health, desiring ot the 
Lord his merciful loving-kindness towards thee and thine in thy 
preservation. And I pray God sanctify this visitation to thee on 
thy better part's account, that Truth in the inward parts may get 
ground, and the testimony and cross of Jesus may prevail to thy 
prosperity every way. 1 have been thinking to see you sometimes; 
then interrupted by sorrowful occasions ; then of writing to tliy 
dear wife, whom I love and esteem above most I know, and with, 
my letter of sending her a few books : but 1 know not how 1 have 
been prevented. The all-wise God give us faith to believe all shall 
work together for the best ! So, with our true love and concern for 
thee and thine, I rest thy most assured Friend, 

"William Penn." 

" My poor friend (his wife), we hope, is in a mending way, 
though slowly. She is very weak." 

In about two months after the writing of this letter he was re- 
leased from his exile by the interposition of his friends. Certain 
persons of rank and influence, who had intimately known and ad- 
mired his cliaracter, thought it was time to interest themselves in 
his behalf. They considered it as a dishonour to the Government, 
that a man who had lived such an exemplary life, and who had been 
so distinguished for his talents, disinterestedness, generosity, and 
public spirit, should be buried in an ignoble obscurity, and pre- 
vented from risingto future eminence in usefulness, in consequence 
of the attack of an unprincipled wretch, whom the Parliament had 
publicly stigmatized as a cheat and impostor, or of the mere sus- 
picion of having incurred the charge that had follov/ed it. There 
was nothing, they conceived, in his conduct, as far as it had been 
investigated, which could lead impartial persons to suppose that he 
was in any degree guilty of any of the charges which had been ex- 
hibited against him. Three of these he had met by a personal ap- 
pearance both before the King and Coun^M, and in the Courts of 
Law, and he had been honourably acquitted. Dr. Tillotson, Mr. 
Popple, Mr. Locke, and many persons distinguished for their char- 
acter and attainments, yet held him in esteem. The Government 
itself had thought his case hard ; for it had never followed up the 
accusation of Fuller even by encouraging the first Warrant, or the 
Proclamation, by any active search for his person. In all parts of 
the kingdom were those whom he had benefited by his private lib- 
erality. In America he had sacrificed a princely fortune for a 
public good. All his actions, however mistaken he might be in 
the opinion of some, were so consistent with each other as to afford 
a demonstration that they proceeded from fixed principles, and 
these of the purest kind. These considerations began to operate 
upon man}'^, and particularly upon tiie Duke of Buckingham, and 
the Lords Somers, Rauelagh, Rochester, and Sidney. The three 
last went in a body to King William. " They represented his 
case to His Majesty not only as hard, but as oppressive. There 
was nothing," they said, "against him but what impostors or such 
as had fled their country had advanced ; or such as, when they had 



OP WILLIAM FBNK. 48 

been pardoned for their crimes, they had refused to verify. They 
themselves," they added, " had long known him (William Penn), 
some ot them thirty yeais, and they had never known him do an 
ill thing, but many good offices, and that if it had not been for being 
thought to go abroad in defiance of the Government he would have 
done it two years ago ; but that he chose to wait to go about his 
business, as before, with leave, that he might be the better respect- 
ed in the liberty he took to follow it." 

King William ans\vered, that " William Penn was his old ac- 
quaintance as well as theirs, and that he might follow his business 
as freely as ever, for that he had nothing to say against him." 
Upon this they pressed His Majesty to command one of them to 
declare this his gracious intention to Sir John Trenchard, who was 
then principal Secretary of State. To this the King consented ; 
and as the Lord Sidney was one of the most intimate acquaint- 
ances William Penn had, he was selected for the purpose. The 
Secretary of State, upon receiving the intelligence from the Lord 
Sidney, was much pleased ; for William Penn, he said, had done 
him signal service after the Duke of Monmouth's and Lord Rus» 
sePs business. Soon after this orders came to him from the King 
himself. In consequence of this he, Sir John, appointed William 
Penn a time to meet him. An interview took place on the thir- 
teenth of November, when Sir John, in the presence of the Marquis 
of Winchester, told him " he was as free as ever ;" adding, that 
" as he doubted not his prudence about his quiet living, so he as- 
sured him he should not be molested or injured in any of his af- 
fairs, at least while he held that post." It appears, however, as 
if William Penn had not been satisfied with the manner of his re- 
lease ;for aCouncil was afterwards held, where, the King and many 
Lords being present, he was heard in his own defence, and where 
he so pleaded his innocency that he was acquitted. 

At this time the case of his wife had become hopeless. It was, 
however, a great gratification to him to think, that, before her spi- 
rit fled to other mansions, she knew of his honourable restoration 
to society. To her his acquittal must have given indescribable 
pleasure. The news of it must have been as balm to the wounds 
of sickness. Suffice it to say, that in about a month after this event 
she died. 

It cannot be expected, from the very nature of society, that the 
wives of individuals should go down to posterity with an illustri- 
ous name, except they have distinguished themselves in a public 
manner. Those females, who fulfil their domestic duties even in 
the most exemplary manner, are seldom recorded but in the breasts 
of their own families. Men are looked upon as the great movers 
in life ; and these find a place in biographical history, when their 
wives, who have perhaps exhibited far more brilliant characters, 
have gone in silence to the grave ; and yet a few words, taken 
from records, may be said in behalf of Gulielma Maria Penn. 
Thomas Ellwood, a Quaker, relates, in the History of his own Life, 
an anecdote, which shows the estimation in which she was held, at 
least in one of the places where she had lived. The reader has al- 
ready been informed, that William Penn soon after his marriage 



44 MEMOIRS or THK hlTS. 

resid'^d at Kickmanswortb in Herefordshire, but that he removed 
afterward to VVorminghm st in Sussex. 1 may now mention, that 
Thomas Ell wood had been summoned (this was in tlie year 1 68"-) 
by air Henjamin Titchhorn and Thomas Fotherly, two Justict:s of 
the Peace, tlie one then living in and the other near Ricknians- 
■^vorth. to appear before them on a certain day on account ot the 
publication of his book called '• A Caution t() Constables." This 
summons they sent him, in order that they might commit him to 
prison till t!ie next as'^ize, a^'d this at the special instigation oi the 
Earl of Bridgewati'T, one of the King's Caliinrt Council. Just at 
tl'is time Thomas KlLvood was suddenly st nt for express by Mad- 
am Penn (as she was called), who then lay dangerously ill at 
"W Orminijhur^t, and whose husband was then, it may be recollect- 
ed, in America To have gone immeiliatelv t(» her, would have 
been to prevent his appearance before the Justices at the time fix- 
ed upon : and to have appeared before t!iem at the ti.ne fixed upon, 
Avould have made it impossible for him to visit Madam Penn. la 
t!>is dilemma he went to the Justices, to explain to tliem how he 
was situated, and to beg a respite of appearance. They receiv- 
ed him witli all the marks of anger : but when he told them the 
occasion of his coming, as now related, their countenances began 
to soften. Not only Justice Fotherly, but Sir Benjamin Titchhorn 
and his lady, who happened to he present (though great enemies to 
the Quakers), expressed deep feelings of regret at the illness of 
Madam Penn ; and all united in expressing their admiration of her 
virtues anil her worth while she lived in their neigl.bourhoorl. Wil- 
ling to oblige such an estimable pers'm. they not only granted 
Thomas Kll wood his request, though at a time when they were 
rigourously enforcing the Conventicle Act ; but for her sake nev- 
er troubled him move <m the same subject. 

But the great testimony concerning her was from her husband. 
He wrote '* An Account of the blessed End of his dear Wife,Gul!- 
elma Maria Penn." to which he fixed as a motto, '' The Memory 
of the Just is blessed." The account consisted in part of certain 
*' weighty expressions, which she uttered upon divers occasions, 
both before and near her end. and which he took down for his own 
and his dear children's consolation." T select the following pas- 
sages from it : 

" At one of the many meefings," says William Penn, " held in 
her chamber, we and our children and one of our servants being 
only present ; in a tender and living power she broke out as she 
sat in her chair. ' Let us all prepare, not knowing what hour or 
watch the Lord cometh. (), 1 am full of matter ! Shall we receive 
good, and shall we not receive evil tbin2;s at the hand of the Lord .►* 
i have cast my care upon the Lord. He is the physician of value. 
My expectation is wholly from him. He can raise up, and he can 
cast down ' " 

" To a Friend a 'ed sixty -five, that came to see ber, she said, 
* How much oldei (she was herself then fifty) has the Lord made 
ine bv this we ikness than thou art ! Rut I am contented. I do not 
murmur. 1 submit to bis holy will.' " 



OP WILLIAM PENN. 45 

" She did at several times pray very sweetly, and in all her 
weakness ni.niifested the most equal, undaunfed, and resigned spi- 
rit, as well as m all other respects. She was an t'xcelling person 
butii as wife, c aid, mother, mistress, friend, and neighbour." 

•' .She called the cliildren one day, when weak, and said, ' Be 
not frightened, children. I do not call you to take my leave of 
you, but to see you ; and 1 would have you walk in the fear of the 
Lord, and with his People, in his holy Truth,' or tu that 
effect." 

'• About three hours before her end, a relation faking leave of 
her, slie said, ' I have cast iny care upon the Lord ; my dear love 
to all friends ;' and lifting up her dying hands and eyes, prayed 
the Lord to preserve and bless them." 

'• About an hour after, causing all to withdraw, we were half 
an hour together, in which we took our last leave, saying all that 
was fit upon that solemn occasion. She continued sensible, and 
did eat s;)mething about an hour before her departure, at wliich 
time our children, and most of my family were present. She qui- 
etly expired in my arms, her head upon my bosom, with a sensi- 
ble and devout resignation of her soul to Aluiighty God. I hope I 
may say she was a public as v/ell as private loss ; for she was not 
onlv an excellent wife and mother, but an entite a?id constant 
friend, of a more than common capacity, and greater modestv and 
humility; yet most equal, and undaunted in (langer; religious, as 
well as ingenuous, without aff<'Ctation : an easy mistress, and e;ood 
neighbour, especially to the pior ; neither lavish nor penurious j 
but an example of industry, as well as of other virtues : therefore 
our great lo-is. though her own eternal gain." 

It will he proper now to see how the Province an<l Territories 
went on dui ini^ this period. Colonel Fletcher, wh » had received his 
Com'uission, left New Y;)rk for Philadelphia to take upon him the 
Government of these. He took with him a few soldiers in his ret- 
inue, a sight never before witnessed in the latter city On his ar- 
rival he summoned t' e Assemblv ; but a dispute arose directly be- 
tween him and the Council, because he had not summoned it in the 
old legal way, which, on account of the firmness of the latter, it 
took some time to adjust. 

The Asseinhly having been at length legally brought together, 
oaths and tetsts were presented to the membeis in the manner of 
other Governments under the immediate administration of the 
Crown. But here a new difficulty arose, for most of them being 
Quakers, they refused to be sworn. To obviat^' this, the Govern- 
or proposed to tliem to subscribe to the Declarations and Profes- 
sio'is mention'Ml in the \ct for lihertv of conscience in the first year 
of William and Mary : but he declared to them at t!ie same time, 
that his proposal was entirely an act of favour on his part, and t'\at 
it was not to be drawn into precedent as a matter of right in 
future. 

This declaration of the Governor disconcerted them ao"ain. Thej 
had no conception, either that ^^'illiam Penn or that thev them- 
selves, had forfeited those nri-.i!e e>< which were in the Compact 
of tlie Settlement. They determined, ho-wever, In order that the 



46 MEMOIRS OF TH£ tIFE 

public business might go on, to sacrifice their feelings for once, 
and to acknowledge his acceptance of their subscription to the 
Declaration and Professions before mentioned, as an act of indul- 
gence for the time. 

As soon as the members had become thus qualified for the exer- 
cise of their functions, the Governor communicated to them a let- 
ter, by waj of message from the Queen, stating, that as the expense 
for the protection of VIbany against the French had become intol- 
erably burthensome to its inhabitants, and as Albany nas a fron- 
tier, by means of which several other colonies were defended, it 
was but reasonable that sucli colonies should assist the Government 
of New York from time to time in the preservation of it during the 
war. 

The Assembly, after having deliberated upon the message, re- 
solved upon an humble Address to the Governor, in which they 
seemed desirous of putting offthe consideration of the subject con- 
tained in it, resppctfully beseeching him that their procedure in le- 
gislation might be according to the usual method and laws of the 
Government of Pennsylvania, founded upon the late King's letters 
patent, which they humbly conceived were yet in force. To this 
Address he replied, but in a manner so displeasing, (for he threat- 
ened to annex them to the Government of New York), that they 
senthimapublic Remonstrance through the medium of their Speak- 
er. They said, among other things, that one of the reasons alleged 
for the superseding of William Penn vvashis adhering too much to 
James the Second, but that he had never been found guilty of the 
charge. Anotlier was, that the administration of justice had been im- 
peded by the quarrels between the Territories and the Province. 
This charge was equally unfounded. For the Courts of Justice 
were open in all the counties belon2;ing to the Government, and jus- 
tice duly executed, from the highest crimes of treason and murder 
to the lowest differences abcmt property, before the date of his (the 
Governor's) Commission. Neither did they apprehend that the 
Province was in danger of being lost to the Crown, although the 
Government was in the hands of some whose principles were not 
for war. They conceived that his (the Governor's) administration, 
though it suspended that of William Penn, was not to be at vari- 
ance with the fundamental principles of the latter. They acknowl- 
edged him (Fletcher) undoubtedly as their then lawful Governor ; 
but they reserved to themselves, and to those whom they repre- 
sented, the continuance of their just privileges and rights. 

After this the Assembly enacted several laws. These were sent 
up to the Governor and Council. They were detained, however, 
by the former unconstitutionally in point of time to see whether 
the Assembly would vote a pecuniary supply according to the ten- 
our of the Queen's letter. This unseasonable delay, together with 
other circumstances, offended the Assembly again; so that they 
unanimously resolved, " that all Bills sent to the Governor and 
Council, in order to be amended, ought to be returned to this 
House to have their further approbation upon such amendments, 
before they could have their final assent to pass into laws.]' In 
consequence of this, the Governor returned some of them, with hi? 



OF WILLIAM PEisrw. AT 

objections for amendment. These tlie Assembly passed ; after 
wliicii they voted a supply, consisting of one penn_)' in the pound 
on all real and personal estates lor one year, and six siiilliags per 
poll for one year upon individuals who had coaie out ol servitude, 
or were not worth one hundred pounds ; which, when collected in 
the six counties, would amount to seven hundred and sixty pounds 
sixteen shillings and two pince. 

The Governor, having obtained his supply, confirmed all the 
Bills which had been passed. He then dissolved the Assembly at 
their own request ; and having appointed William Markham his 
Deputy Governor, he returned to his station at New York. 

It must be obvious from this statement, that there was no great 
cordiality bet w een Governor Fletcher and tlie Council and Assembly 
during; his residence among them. The former, following the prac- 
tice he had been accustomed to in the administration of the govern* 
itient of iSiew York, which ditfered from that of Pennsylvania, was led 
into a false step at the veryfii st by conveniugthe Assemblyin an ille- 
gal manner. This ptoituced suspicion and jealousy among the latter. 
This suspicion and this jeal )U.sy he awakened again, perhaps from 
his own ignorance of Quaker principles, by his attempt to intro* 
duce the oatli among them as a (|ualiiication for le<i;islation. But, 
while they were in this unsettled state, he proposed to them the 
Queen's letter, by which they were to vote a pecuniary supplv to- 
wards the delence of Albany. Here, being equally principled 
against war as against oaths, their feelings received another sliock. 
They began now to be seriously alarmed. They l.ad left their 
homes and crossed the Atlantic to get rid of what they considered 
to be the barbarous and corrupt cu>^toms of the Old \V orld, and td 
start as a people upon a new system. But they found themselves 
grievously disappointed. Oaths, war, and taxation were now at 
hand. Thev thought they saw armies marching and countermarch- 
ing among what they had expected to be peaceable habitations. 
'^ hey tiioui^ht they saw the Indians engaged in a contest, those 
verv people whom it was the object of William Penn to bring from 
ferocious habits to the blessings of civilized life. With respect to 
the tax, as it was a fundamental of their relipon always to obey 
i\\Q existing Government, except where their consciences suffered, 
they consented to it; but they stipulated in the Bill, that one half 
of the money raised should go to the maintenance of the Governor, 
and the other half as their own fee present to the Crown. Such 
was the state of their minds when Governor Fletcher left them, 
upon a view of which thev could not help contrasting his Govern- 
ment with that of William Penn. This served only to confirm 
their prejudices against the former, and to elevate the character of 
the latter. Nor could this view of the matter operate otherwise 
than as a painful reproach upon themselves ; for in a few months 
after Fletcher, a mere stranger, had arrived, they granted him a 
provision, and they made the Crown a present: vvhle for years, 
even to this very time, they had not furnished a table for William 
Penn. 



MEMOIRS OF The ilFE 



CHAPTER VII. 



Ji. 1694 — wri*es^^Jin JiccQunt of ihe Bise and Progresa of the 
t{uakcis'^ — -^e)iercd contents of this wmk—also "^ ji lisitation 
to the Jews''^ — cxtradsfrom tfieucc—^j'iihdslies his '"• Joumetf in-^ 
to Ho/Land and Germany as pi-Tjormed in 1677" — is resiuveu to 
his (yovernment by Ii!in«; <■■ iliium^' handsome numnei oi wording 
the royal order fur this jjurpose— travels in i/ie ministry — leuer 
to John livatton — affairs of i^euhsyivania-^deuth una ciiaiatier 
of Thomas Lloyd. 

"William Penn, having Vieen honourably acquitted, was now at 
liberty to follow bis iiicliiiatioiis where be pleased His thoughts 
were naturally directed towards Pennsylvania, liut, alas, bis new 
situation among other things prevented him, at least for the pres- 
ent, from g'ing th'/re! He had just lest his wife. His cliUlren 
were without a mother. He felt it therefore bis duty t(< stay at 
home for a while, that he miglit c»»mfort .ind instruct his fau'ily ; 
that he might act the part of a doiihle parent ; and tliat be ini.ht 
make those arrangements, which t!ie late melancholy event had 
rendered necessary in Ms domestic concerns. 

Being tied down as it weieto tlie house on this account, bis 
mind fell into employment, the result of which was tl>.e pro- uction 
of a hook, which, however, he intended only as a ^^'refuce to the 
Wildings of George Fox. It contained '• An Vccount o' the l^ise 
and Progi ess of the People called Quakers, n whicli their funda- 
mental Principles. Doctrines, Worship, Ministiy,and Discipline, 
were plainly declared." 

He iiave in the first chapter o^ this work a history of the differ- 
ent dispensations of God to the time of George Fox, or to the first 
appearance of the Quakers. 

He explained in the second their great Principle ; the opposition 
}f had met with ; its progress notwithstanding : and tlie great com- 
fort it adm'mstered wherever it ^ ad been received ; how out of it 
tbiee grCMtand fundamenhddoctrines sprung, which tl'eir preach- 
ers taught ; namely, repentance from dead works to serve the liv- 
ing God, perfection from sin as included in the notion of regenera- 
tion or a new birth, and an acknowledgement of eternal rewards 
and punishments ; how from these, as the greater, other doctrines 
sprung, which influenced their practice, such as the love of one 
an"tber ; the love of their enemies ; their ref'isal to confirm their 
testimony by an ttath. and to fight or engnge in wars, and to pay 
ministers for preaching the Gospel of Christ, and to sliow respect 
to persons b]^ flattering titles or compliments of respect ; t'^eir 
adoption of plainness and simplicity in their bnguage. their a!\sti- 
nence from all unnecessary words, and their rejection of the heathen 
custom of drinking beaItl)S to people. He co'cluded with a de- 
scription of their simple way of marriape, and of the manner of leg- 
istering t! eir birtl s and conducting tl'eir tunerals. ali of wliiclt 
were opp< eiie to the pompa and vanities of the world. 



OF WILLIAM PENI*. 48 

He explamed in the third ciiapter vvliat were the qualifications of 
their niini-teis, and the marks by wliich tliey might be known to 
be (.Miristun. 

!n the taurtli chapter he explained the object and the manner of 
cotuluctin^ t'.eir di-cipliiie. Its object was to supply the necessi-- 
ties ot the poor ; to take caie that they who were members an- 
swered tlieir In^h profssioii, rnitoidv' by living peaceably, but by 
showing in all tilings a good example; to inquire previously as to 
warriases, wliether the i/arties to be concerned in them were clear 
©fall aiarriage-promi^es or eiiga;4emerits to others; to register 
biiths and funerals ; and to record the services and isufferings of 
those deceased me hers w* o had acted as laif'iful servants. The 
w V of conducting it he descii'ied to he by Elders, and bymonthlv, 
q'larterly, and yearly meetini^s. at which persons were deputefl to 
attend for their respective di>tiicts. All members, however, 
wliet er deputed or not. m-^ht he present at these, and deliver 
their minds upon t'ae points before them. At these meetings there 
was Hi! visible head, no c''airniati, or chief manager ; but they con- 
sidered Christ as their Presiilent. who wiuld always be in ti^e 
midst of tltose who met together in his name. He then described 
the princijde and authority upon which they proceeded against 
th >se who had t!-,ins<>;resse(l, the manner of such proceeding, and 
ho V the way was left open to them (on repentance) of restoration 
t^i membership. 

The fiftli ciiapter contained a history of the life of the founder. 
He drew therein a iieautiful and interestina: picture of his birth, 
parentage, early disposition, habits. qnaliHcalions, character, 
troubles, sufferings, and of his deatli and final triumph. 

The sixth contained general exhortations, not only to the meiii- 
bers of t!ie Society, but to those who were vet strangers to the Qua- 
kers as a people. These exhortations were varied so as to suit the 
au:es, conditions, and states of those to whom they were severallj 
a^ldressed. 

William Penn spent a part of his retirement with his familvm 
reading. Amons: the books which interested him at this time was 
oup written bv John Toinkins. It had t'.ie following: title : " The 
Harmony of the Old and New Testament, and the fulfilling of the 
Prophets concerning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and his 
Kinuidom in the latter Days ; with a brief Concordance of the 
IVames and Attributes given to Christ, ami some Texts of Scrip- 
ture collected concerning Christ's Humiliation and Sufferinas. also 
his excellent Diijnity and Glorification." In consequence of the 
jrerusal of this book he felt his mind drawn towards those unhappy 
people, who, ever since the destruction of Jerusalem, have beea 
wandering about, carrying tlie marks of pronhecv with them wherev- 
er they have gone. He wrote, there'^ore, hv wav of Appendix to 
it, a small pamphlet, which he called " A Visitation to the Jews." 
It consisted of a tender and compassionate address to the seed of 
Abraham a'td house of fsrael after the flesh, wherever scattered 
over the face of the earth, with an earnest desire that the time of 
their captivitv might come to an end, and that thev, who vere the 
natural branches broken off through unbelief, mijjht conie again t» 



fO SIEMOIRS OP THE LIFE 

be ingrafted by faith and through the circumcision made without 
hands, so that the hope of the promise made to their fathers might 
be manifested among them. In this address he attempted to show 
them how ill fouiided thuse ohjections were which stood in the way 
of their conversion to tlie Christian religion. I select the follow- 
ing passage as a spt-cimen of the manner of his argument on this 
occasion : 

'• But if," says he to the Jews, " you have no reason to deny the 
New Testament-writings any more than we have to ileny the au- 
thority of the Old, in which you so firmly believe, it is as reasona- 
ble in us to expect you should receive tiie authority of the New, 
as that we should embrace the autlioritv of the Old. For v/hat have 
you to justify the truth of those writings, but the impossibility of 
so manv people consenting to delude themselves, arid being able to 
impose upon their posterity a lictioii about the ^^reat and important 
matters of immortalitv ? For the miracles recorded in the Old 
Testament-scriptures are as mucli above reason, and consequent- 
ly as incredible to worldly men, as t!ie miracles recorded in the 
New Testament-scriptures: so that thf autlioritv you have for the 
Oh! Testament-writings is the truth and credibility of their tra- 
dition. This, we sav, we also have 'or ours. How could so many 
men, whom you have not taxed with ill lives or atheistical princi- 
ples, agree to.;;ether to put so great an imi'osture upon the world, 
as the penmen of the New Testiment-writings must needs have 
done, if what tliey write were fictions ? You cannot deny that there 
was such a man as Jesus, and that he was put to <leath by your 
fathers, though pretendsMl to be a malefactor, and tliat he had fol- 
lowers, and that those followers asserted and maintained the doc- 
trine ftf tlieir Master. Where is there any confutation of what is 
affirmed of the deeds and doct'ines of Jesus i)y his writers in the 
•whole body of your antiquity, that be wrought none of the miracles 
said to be wrought by him .^" 

A third work, which be brought out at this time, was an Account 
of his Travels through Holland and Germany in the year 1677. Of 
this [ shall say nothing, having made large extracts from it when 
I gave an account of his proceedings for that year. 

While be had been employed in this manner, two events had 
taken place, which it will be now proper, and indeed very pleasing, 
to re hi te. The first of tiiese was a complete reconciliation with 
liis own religious Society How this was effected is not known. 
Certain however it is, that it was brought to pass, and this early in 
the present vear, and that after this he enjoyed a greater portion 
than ever of the friendship and esteem of its members. The sec- 
ond was his restoration to tJiP Government of Pennsylvania. It has 
been said by some, that the Quakers were now so warmly attach- 
ed to him, that they had been the means, by uncommon exertions, 
of procuring for him this mark of the loyal favour. But the asser- 
tion is not true. William Penn, soon after his last honourable dis- 
char^;e by the Kino; and Council bad sent a petition to the former 
for this very purpose, which stood upon its own merits. KingWil- 
liaai having received it, took it into consideration ; and the result 
was, that it was thought but just and reasonable to comply with his 



OF WILLIAM 7SNN. SX. 

request. Accordingly an instrument was made out by the Royal 
order, and dated and signed on the twentieth of August, bv which 
he was restored Ut his Government; and the way in which this in* 
strunient was worded was particularly creditahleto William Pcnn, 
for it was declared therein, that the disorder and confusion into 
■which the Province antl Territories had fallen (which had been the. 
pret'-nce for dispossessing him) had been occasioned entirely b^ 
his absence from them. I may add to this, that he began to recover 
in the estimation of his countrymen .,t lar^e : for it was generally 
known that Fuller was then living in disgrace, that is, in the dis- 
grace which the Resolution »if Parliament and the punishment of 
the pilioiy had brought upon him ; whereas he, W illiam Penn, af- 
ter having passed through four fiery ordeals, had come out of them 
only to le-ascend to honour. 

H.ivinjT arranged his domestic concerns, and obtained his for- 
mer rank and character in society, he determined to visit the west 
of England in his cay)acity as a minister of the Gospel. He travel- 
led, ;is we find in t'te folio volume of his Life, " in the counties of 
Glocester, Somerset. Devon, and ! Dorset, having meetings almost 
daily in the most considerable towns and other places in those 
counties, to which the people flocked abundantly ; ami his testi- 
mony to thf' Truth, answerin . to that of God in their consciences, 
was assented to by many." This is all we can collect of his jour- 
ney trxin this quarter. We have, however, a more paiticular ac- 
count of his proceedings for a few davs, though a very short one, 
foil! .Tohn Whiting. The latter in his M» moirs writes t! us : 
*' '('ids vear in tlu' ?\inth month William Penn came down to Bris- 
tol, and to Chew, ard h.ad a great meeting at ( lareliau', aiid came 
to my house at Wrington that night with, several other Friends. 
And next day we went with him on board the Bengal ship in King- 
road to dinner ; and afterwards by Westbury to Bristol on seventh 
day night, where on first day were very large n-.eetings. And 
about two weeks after he went westward, and had large meetings 
in most of the great towns in our county, asalsoin I)e\onshirean(l 
Dorsetshire. I met him at \^'ells, and went with \\\\v to Son.erton, 
where it was some time hefoi e we could get a p'ace large etmugli 
for the meeting, the ^'arket-house, where the meetiiii; began, 
though laige, not being hii;- eno" gh to hold it ; and at last we were 
glad to go out into the fi Ids : and a great gathering theie was, I 
met him again at Brid^ewater. where he had a great meeting in 
the Town-hall, as he had in most places, which the Mavors gene- 
rally consented to for the respect they had to him, few places else 
being sufficient to hold the meetings. On the twenty-seventh of 
tenth month he came again to Wrington, and had a large meeting 
in the Court-hall (where we then kept our meetings), where was a 
Justice of the Peace and his wife." 

On his return frtmi his journey he came to London, after which 
we have no further trace of him for the present year, except in a 
letter which he wrote from thence to John Gratton, who was an 
eminent minister of the Society, and who lived near Chesterfield 
in Derbyshire. This worthy man had suffered much by the spolia- 
tion of his goads on account of ids religion. He was then a re- 



^2 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

spectable tra*1eoman, but stood high in the esteem of his neighbour, 
then Eail, but afterwards first Duke, of Devonshire. 1 present the 
following exti acts from ir to the reader : 
•' Dkar John Gratton, 

" Thy dear and tender love I feel by thy kind lines, and they 
were to my comfort and refreshment. Thy name has been down 
i« my pocket-book ever since I came to tliis city, to write to thee 
as one of my dear and choice fdends, that lies and lives near nie, 
with whom is my dear, near, and inward fellowship ; and that thou 
art low and poor, and as self-independent as ever, is a brave con- 
dition, and thou canst not say better for thyself or the greatest 
worthy in the flock. O dear John, I desire to daell tliere. v/hile I 
live in this tabernacle. It is my prayer, and mucli of my lainis- 
try to God's people. Some are convinced, but not converted ; 
and many, that are converted, do not persevere : wherefore their 
«il dries up ; and Self, in Truth's form, gets up under specious 
pretences." 

" riir ugh the Lord's great mercy and beyond my hopes T am 
yet tolerablv well through haid service, whicli it has been my lot 
to be engaged in of late ; in which the Lord has abundantly an- 
swered me, and tender-hearted Friends and sober peoj-le of all 
sorts." 

" As yet I have not seen my own home above these four months. 
I am a poor pilgrim on the earth, \ et my hope is established for an 
abid'.ng place in an unchangeable world.*"' 

" l^eir John, never trouble thyself with priests. Let them have 
our books. Take two or three gross things from theirs, confute 
them, and leave the lest. Methinks J. R. (Sir John Rhoiies. who 
was Grattan's neighbour, and had l)ecome a Quaker) should exer- 
cise himself that way, which would whet him up to services suita- 
ble to his condition. My love to him and the Doctor. (Gilbert 
Hfathcote, who had married Sir Jolm F.hoi'es's sister ) I remem- 
ber them in my prayers to the Lord, that t'nev may travel on to 
the end, and receive the crown of faithfulness. So, in the Lord's 
love, dearly fiirewel I ! 

" Thy cordial Friend and loving Brotlier, 

'• William Penn." 

We may now look at what passed in America during this 
period. 

Colonel Fletche--. who had gone to New York for the winter, re- 
turned t:> Piiladidpliia in the spring. Hiving called the Assem- 
bl V le2;ally, he sent tliein a messa;\e, st t ig that he !iad received 
informaton '' that the five nations of Indians, who had been so 
long faithTul to the English, were now debauched to the French in- 
terest in Canada ; thiit he was ct>me to lay the whole affair he'ore 
them, assuring them that tlieir own Indians would he compelled to 
join the con'eiieracy ; that in consequence thereof he had >t t- a 
fo'irsco-e fine 'arms aT d'poru':'ted about Aliiany ; that th Jer- 
seys hal done mo e fo tie c mm )n defence then all tlie ot r ad- 
jacent Provi ces . t'a' thou 'h he respected those scruples v hich 
!e ' t lem to e us *o ar-y :; ms '.r t > levy money for war, et he 
tioped tliCj wouLi 1.0. Ts-fu&e to leed the hungry and cluihetlie 



OP WILLIAM PE1?N. 



Jiaked, M'hlch they might do by supplying the Indian nations with 
such necessavie- as m ght influence a continuation oi tlieir iViend-' 
ship to these Provinces : and, lastly, that he was ready, as tar as in 
hii'i lay consistently with the rules of loyalty and a just regard to 
libei tv and property, to redress tiieir grievarices, it they had any." 

This message displeased tl'e Assembly. It served on!) to recal 
their former tears. '1 hey considv red it as a demai;d ibr more of 
the public money, but in a new shape. '1 Isey determined therefore 
to resist it. and accordingly they reius( d the Governor the snpply„ 
Several laws, however, were passed between this and the subse- 
quent Sf-ssitm. which wfjs the last under Colonel Fletcher ; tor, 
having recei^ed the official letters which superseded him, in con- 
sequence «>f the restoration of the (iovernment to William Penn, 
he took his final leave of them, and returned to his own Piovince. 

About this time died Thomas Idoyd, whom I have had occasion 
so often to mention in these Memoirs. He died at the earh age 
t)f fifty-four, "ireatly lamented by all who knew him. He vasthe 
younger son of a veiy ancient family, which possessed the estate 
of Dolobran, in Montgomeryshire. He had received a learned 
education j»t Oxford, hut aft^'r waids on conviction ioined the Soci- 
ety of the Quakers. Dr. \^ illiam Lloyd, the learned and liberal- 
minded Pishop of St. Asaph, in wh«)se diocese lie lived, and who 
was afterwards translated in succession to the sees of Litchfield 
«nd Coventry, and Worcester, inquired, according to bis custom, 
both of him and his hntther Charles, when they separated from the 
ChiM-c'i, their reasons for so doing. Tl^ey consented to give them 
in jnjhlic, hvi in no other way. Accordingly a religious conference 
took place at Welchpool, which lasted from two in the afternoon 
tiM two in the morninsr. It was tlien adjourned to Llanvilling. to 
■the 'I'own-haM. where it lasted two days. It was not a conference 
of disputation, for the Bishop confined himself principally to tie 
proposing of questions and to the hearing of answers. On the last 
day he forced Thomas T^loyd into no less than twenty-eight svllo- 
gisms eocfemj)orp. which were put down in writing as they were 
delivered, on the subjects of Rap+ism and the Loid's Supper. 
T' om.iS liloyd acquitted bim«e!f so well on this occasion, that the 
Eishop greatly commended his learning. After this be went over 
to America, and filled, as we have seen, the office both of Presi- 
dent of the Council and of Deputv Governor of Pennsylvania, and 
t't'se with ' reat ability and irite;;rity. These posts, however, he 
disliked, greatly preferring a private life : but he filled them fiom 
8 tielief. which others at lenjitli jiersuaded him to entertain, that 
he would he doing good by acce|>tin<r th.em. On his death-bed, 
after an illness of onlv si\ davs. he took lea\e of those who were 
near him in tlie following cf<lm manner ; '• I die in unity and love 
with all faithful fViends. 1 have foug! t a good fight. I liave kept 
the faith, which stands not in the wis(htm of words, but in the 
power of God. I have sou";' t not for strife and contention, but 
for the grace of our- Lord Jesus (^brist and tlie siniplicitv of the 
Gospel. 1 lav down my head in peace, and desire you may all do 
so. Farewell." 



§4 VBMOIR& OF THE LIFE 

Colonel Fietchpir having returned to New York, and Thomas 
Lloyd lieing dead, the De|)U^J Gitvernment of t!ie Province and 
Territories was conferred iipoo William iVIarkl\a«i : for ^^ illianx 
Penn, on hearing of these events, sent hira a Commission for that 
purpose. 



CHAPTER VIII. 




William Pknn employed himself in the bej^inning of the pres- 
«nt year in answering a pamphlet which had been written against 
one of his own works t'lat had apntared in 1692. This production 
he called '• A Reply to a pretended Answer b a nameless Author 
to William Peon's Kev." I shall att»'mpt no analysis of it, be- 
cause its general contents mav be imagined, by referring to those 
of" the K'^y," which I have already laid before the reader. There 
is one passage, however, in it, which I shall transcribe. His op- 
ponent bad charged him wirh prevarication in Jlie late rei::.n, and 
witli having shown an intemperate z<*al for a boundless liberty of 
conscience. To the char;re he replied thus : '• And if it be nossi- 
ble or worth while to reconcile bin (mv opponent) better to my 
conduct, let him peruse mv '• Gi^*at Case of Liliertyof Con- 
science.-' printed in 1671, and mv '• Letter to the t^tates of Emb- 
den," 1672, and my " Pres;'nt State of England," 1675, and he 
will find I was the same man then, and acfed by the same princi- 
ples s not more intemnera^^e in the reign t'lat favoured it, than in 
the reign I contended with (the preceding) tliat did not favour it. 
And no man but n Pe.rftecnto'', which I count a beast nfpr^if,anda 
declared enemy to mankind, can without great injustice or ingrati- 
tude reoroac'* that part I had in King James's Court : for I think 
I mav sav without vanitv. upon this provocation, [endeavoured at 
least to do some good at my own cost, and would have done more. 
I am verv sure I intended, and I think I did, harm to none, neither 
patties nor private nerson*, mv own family exce')ted ; for which I 
do'i'it not this aithor's pardon, since he shows himself so little con- 
cerned for the master of it." 

\bout this time the Q'lakers petitioned Parliament for an Actto 
make their alfir nation equ?l to their oath. William Penn was ap- 
pointed to act for them on this occasion. This he did by appear- 
ing at the House of Commons, and by delivering there the follow- 
ing paper : 



OF WILLIAM PBNN;. 55 

"• That the request of the people called Quakers may be indulg- 
ed by the Members of this Hoiiuurable House, it is humbly pro- 
posed to them to consider the nature and tuliiess of the security 
they offer ; and, if it be found to amount to the weight and value of 
an oath, it is hoped there will be no difficulty in accepting it, iu 
lieu of an oath. 

" The pledge, that every man upon oath gives of his truth, is his 
soul. He means, that God should deal with him according to the 
truth of his affirmative or negative given by him in the name of 
God. Now to show that tlie said people do as much ; that is, that 
they pledge their souls too in their way ; that th^'y mean the same 
caution with them that swear ; .ind are under the same reverence 
in their simple and solemn aye or no ; and therefore give the same 
security ; I shall beg this Honourable House to consider three 
things. 

'• First, this people make it an article of their faith and prac- 
tice, and a great part of their characteristic, not to swear at all. 
They think, whether mistaken or not, that the righteousness of 
Christianity does not need or use an oath ; so that you have theii* 
religion in the highest exercises of it in human affairs for your 
security. 

" Secondly, they have often and at very dear rates proved to 
the world they mean what they say, since they have frequently 
chosen to lose their estates, and lie and die in gaol, rather than 
save the one or deliver themselves from the other by deviating 
from their principle : and since, in such cases, integrity is the se- 
curity all aim at, it is hard to conceive which way any man can 
give a greater : nor are they so insensible as not to know that un- 
truth in them, after this great indulgence, is a more aggravated 
crime than perjury in others, since they excuse themselves from 
not swearing by a profession of an exacter simplicity and greater 
strictness. 

" Lastly, they humbly hopp that, being to suffer for untruth as 
for perjury, their request will not be uneasy, since they subject 
their integrity to trial upon the hazard of a conviction that is so 
much greater than the offence in the eye of the law would bear. 
Let them then, we pray, speak in their own way, and, if false, be 
punished iu yours. And since this Honourable House has testi-- 
fied an excelling zeal to secure the rights and privileges of that 
great body they represent, these inferior members, with all due re- 
spect, claiming a relation to it, request that they may not be left 
exposed in theirs, but that by your wisdom and goodness they may 
be provided for in true proportion to the exigencies they are un- 
der ; which will engage them in the best wishes for your pros- 
perities." 

Soon after this he travelled as in the former year in the work of 
the ministrv. We first trace him at a meeting at Henley opon 
Thames. From thence he passed into Wiltshire. While he was 
at Melksham,a dispute was held between John Plvmpton, a Bap- 
tist, «nd John Clark of Bradford on the part of the Quakers, in the 
c»Mrt-yard belonging to Thomas Beaven's house. The Baptist had/ 
challenged the Quakers to a public conference on five subjects : 
8 



36 MEMOIRS OF THE EIFE 

the Universality of Grace, Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Perfection^ 
and the Resurrection. Clark is said to have answered the o; j^c- 
tions of Plympton notably : but Fiympton would not aliow it : and 
though the auditors were against him he continued to cavil on, and 
•would not be silenced. At length evening coming on V\ illiain 
Penn rose up, and, to use the words of a spect;ttor. '^ breaking like 
a thunder-storm over his head in testimony to t'ne people," w!;o 
were numerous, concluded the dispute. 

From Melksham he proceeded to Warminster, and from thence 
to Wrington, at both wh cli places he preached to crowded meet- 
ings. 

The people of Wells being desirous of hearing liim, he took an 
opportunity of going to that place. But here some arrangement 
WHS necessary ; for tlie Bishop was then there, and some of t' e 
JVIagistrates were unfriendly. Accortlingly John Whiting, accom- 
panied by Robert Holder, went to tlie Bishop to solicit his permis- 
sion to assemble the people for the occasion. The Bishop at this 
time was Hichanl Kidder, the auflior of that excellent work w(iich 
appeared afterwards. " A Demonstration of the Messias." Tlie 
Bishop asked Whiting, after the latter had opened his business to 
him. vvhy he desired in have a meeting there, seeing there were no 
Quakers in the town. Whiting told him. To declare the Truth. 
He then asked what the Quakers had to preach more than they. 
Whiting replied, The Grace of God. The Bishop sad. they pi cach- 
ed the Grace of God also. Whiting replied, tliey mi;-.ht do so now 
and then, but not. he apprel ended, as the Quakers did: that is, 
thev did not direct their people to it as to that v,' ch bringetii sal- 
vation and hath appeared unto all men, and would teach them to 
denv ungodliness and worldly lust'*, and to live soberly, righteous- 
ly, and godly in this present world. J^oon aft^.r this the Bishop, 
who conducted himself with much good temper, left them to do as 
thev pleased. 

Finding no opposition from the Bishop, they applied for the Mar- 
ket-house, as the fittest place to hold the auditors. They were 
promised the use of it the next day ; but when the time came they 
were forbidden to enter it ; for some of the opposite partv in th» 
town, who had been drinking Colonel Berkley's election-ale tlie 
dav before, bad turned the clerk of the market against them. They 
resolved therefore, with the consent of the landlord, to make use 
of the Crown Inn, where t'ney put up, which bad a large room and 
a balcony facing t'-e Market-place. But finding, on looking over 
the late Act of Toleration, that it was necessary to have a certifi- 
cate that they intended to bold a religious meeting there, they 
drew up the same, und the same persons went with it to the Bishop 
as before. He received them, as before, in a friendly manner, 
John Whiting informed him of what the Act required. The Bishop 
sai<l he would look at the Act: and, if it really required, he would 
certainly send them, a certificate. 

Bvthis time the Market-house was full of people, who bad broken 
into it ; but John Whiting and others desired them to come out of 
it, and to place themselves before the balcony of the inn in the 
street. This they did tQ the number of between two and three 



OF WILLIAM PENS, 3T 

thousand. The Quakers in tiie mean time occupied the great room 
in tiie inn. Alter tiiis arrangement William Fenn came forward 
to the Ltalconj and began to preach : but in the midst of his dis- 
course a constable and otiier officers came with a warrant signed 
bv Matthew liaron, Mayor, and William Salmon, Justice; and, 
breaking through the people, forced their way into the great room 
of the inn, and then into tlie balcony, and seized William Penn, 
whom tliey hurried away before the Magistrates. These, however, 
did not iletain him long ; for finding, upon examination, that the 
house had been certified by the Bisl-iop, and that by disturbing a 
lawiul assembly they had overshot tlieir mark, they excused them- 
selves as well as tliey eould, and dismissed him ; " having done 
just enougli," says one of the old writers of his Life, " to manifest 
the keenness of their stomachs for the old work of devouring, in 
that they couki not refrain from whetting their teeth again, after 
tlie Act of Toleration iiad blunted them." .^fter this the Quakers 
hired a house at Wells, in which, having obtained a license for it 
according to law, William Penn preached without further moles- 
tation, and in which several meetings were afterwards held by the 
same people. 

William Penn, having staid his time at Wells, travelled to oth- 
er places ia the county, holding meetings for worship almost daily 
as lie went along; when at length he proceeded to Bristol, a place 
■\v liere he had so frequently exercised his gift in the same • ay. 
Here he remained some time. After this he went to London, and 
from thence made the best of his way to his family at Worming- 
burst in Sussex. 

With respect to his American affairs but little occurs for men- 
tion in the present year. On the twenty -sixth of March, Mark- 
ham as Deputy Governor issued a writ for the election of a new 
Provincial Council, consisting as before of three, and of a new As- 
sembly consisting of six persons, for each County. The Council 
so elected, met on the twentieth of April, and the Assembly on the 
tenth of September. At this assembly he renewed the application 
of Fletcher for more money on the ground of the Queen's letter. 
The Assembly took the subject into consideration, and voted an 
assessment, but specified tlie manner of its appropriation as before. 
To the Bill, however, which they passed for this purpose, they 
joined another, entitled A new Act of Settlement, by which the 
Council was to consist of onlv two Members instead of three, and 
the Assembly of only four instead of six, for each County, and by 
which certain fundamental liberties were to be confirmed to them. 
These Bills they presented to Markham for his sanction ; but, in- 
stead of giving it, he dissolved both the Council juul the Assembly 
in an abru])t manner, and to the surprise not only of the Members 
of both, but of the whole Province. 



S^ -WEMOIRS OP THE LIFE 



CHAPTER IX. 



jj. 1 696— mame* a second time — loses his eldest son — writes an 
atcount of his sayings awl behaviour during; his sickness, and of 
his character-— writi's also '• Frimitive Christianity revived^^ — . 
anahjsis of the work — -also '^ JI ore f Fork for G. Keith''' — visits 
th' VzarofMnscovijth"nin England— impression made u^jon 
the latter — affairs of Pennsylvania. 

William Penn having obtained, according to the custom of the 
Quakers, a certificate from his own monthly meeting, which was 
then held at Horsham in Sussex, that he was clear from all other 
engagements, went down to Bristol in the beginning of the month 
of March to solemnize a secoad marriage. He had long felt an 
extraordinary esteem for Hannah, the daughter of Thomas CaK 
lowhill, and grand-daughter of Dennis Hollister, both eminent 
merchants of that city, and both of whom had joined the religious 
Society of the Quakei-s. It was with her that he entersd into tlie 
union now mentioned. 

But, alas, how short-lived frequently, and how uncertain always, 
are our prospects ! How nearly dwell together our pleasures and 
our pains ! But a few weeks after he had brought liis new married 
wife homo, he lost his eldest son. The latter, indeed, had been 
for some time in a decline, and therefore this his untimely end had 
in all probability been expected. But lie was a youth ot high at- 
tainments and most amiable and engaging manners. He had heen 
looked up to with great reason as a child of promise. He had pass- 
ed his twentieth year. The expectation, therefore, ff his decease, 
though it might have prepared his relatives for it, did not lessen 
the affliction of losing him. An event, which cut off' so much ge- 
nius and virtue in their bloom, though consolatory in looking to- 
wards a future life, must have involved his family in sorrow. 

William Penn had attended his son regularly in his illness, sav- 
ing the timehe was absent on his marriage, forthe last three months. 
He was his nurse and comforter. He received his head, when 
dying, in his own bosom, as he had done that of his mother, and 
•witnessed his departing breath. And as of her he gave a memori- 
al to the world, which embraced the interesling scenes of her last 
moments : so, with the like hallowed view, he did the same with 
respect to her son. This memorial, though it be of some length, I 
cannot withhold from the reader : for it shows, first, the pious way 
in which he trained up hischildren ; and secondly, the tender man- 
ner in which he effected it : because, while he always enforced his 
authority as a parent, it appears that he held an eminent place in 
their affections. It shows too the power of religion on the mind ; 
how even youth itself may be made capable of attaining the high- 
est wisdom : h<jw it may he brought, gay and inconsiderate as it is, 
to a state of patience and resignation under suffering ; and even to 
look upon affliction, as a state which may be so sanctified as to be 
reckoned among our blessings. To tlie memorial he prefixed these 
v;ords: "Sorrow and Joy in the Loss and End of Springett Penn." 



OP WILLIAM PENN. 59 

" My very dear child," says he, " and eldest son, Springett 
Penn, did from his childhood manifest a disposition to goodness^ 
and gave me hope of a more than ordinary capacity ; and time 
satistied me in botii respects. For, besides a ^ojd share of learn- 
ing and mathematical knowledge, he showed a judgment in the 
use and application of it much above his jears. [je had the seeds 
of many good qu.Jities rising in him, that made him beloved and 
conse(pjently lament d ; but esppciallj his humility, plainness, and 
trutti, with a tenderness and softness of nature, wh:ch, if 1 may 
say it. were an improvement upon his other i:(»od qualities. But 
though these were no security against sickness and death, jetthey 
went a good way to facilitate a due preparation fur them. And in- 
deed the good ground that was in liim showed itself very plainly 
some time before bis illness. For more than half a year before it 
pleased the Lord to visit him with weakness, he grew more retir- 
ed, and nxuch disengaged from youthful delights, showing a re- 
markable tenderness in meetings, even when they were silent : 
but when he saw himself doubtful as to liis recovery, he turned his 
mind and meditations more apparently towards the Lord, secretly, 
as also when his attendants were in the room, praying often with 
ffreat fervency to him, and uttering very many thankful expres- 
sions and praises to him, in a very deep and sensible manner. One 
day he said to us, ' 1 am resigned to what God pleaseth. He knows 
what is best. 1 would live, if it pleased him, that I might serve 
him ; but. O Lord, not my will, but tliine be done !' 

" A person speaking to him of the things of this world, and what 
might please him when recovered, he answered, ' My eye looks an- 
other way, where the truest pleasure is.' When he told me he had 
rested well, and I said it was a mercy to him, he quickly replied 
upon me with a serious yet sweet look, ' All is mercy, dear father j 
every thing is mercy.' Another time when I went to meeting, at 
parting he said, ' Remember me, my dear father, before the Lord. 
Though I cannot go to meetings, yet 1 have many good meptings. 
The Lord comes in upon my spirit. I have heavenly meetings 
with him by myself.' 

" Not many days before he died, the Lord appearing by his holy 
power upon his spirit, when alone, at my return, asking him how 
he did, he told me, ' O, I have had a sweet time, a blessed time ! 
great enjoyments ! The power of the Lord overcame my soul : a 
sweet time indeed !' 

'• And telling him how some of the gentry, who had been to visit 
him, were gone to their <:ames and sports and plea-ures. and how 
little consideration the children of men had of God and their lat- 
ter end, and how much happier he was in this weakness, to have 
been otherwise educated and presi^rved from those temp.tatiopvto 
vanity, he answered, ' It is all stuff, my dear fjither, it is sad stuff. 

O that I might live to tell them so !' ' Well, my dear child,' I 

replied, ' let this be the time of thy entering into secret covenant 
with God, that if he raise thee, tliou wilt dedicate thy youth, 
strengtl). and life to him and his people and service.' He return- 
ed, ' Father, that is not now to do, it is not now to do,' with great 
tenderness upon hie spirit. 



6Q MEMOtRS OF THE LITE 

"Being ever almost near him, and doing any thing for him he 
wanted or desired, he broke out with much sense and love, ' My 
dear father, it" i live, I will make thee amends ;' and speaking ta 
him of divine enjoyments, that the eye (»f man saw nut, but the 
soul made alive by t!ie Spirit of Christ plainly felt, he. in a lively 
remembrance, cried out, ' O, I had a sweet timt' yesterday by my- 
self! The Lord hath preserved me to this day. Blessed be his 
name ! iMy soul praises him for his mercy. O father, it is of the 
goodness of the Lord that 1 am so well as 1 am.' Fixing his eyes 
upon his sister, he took her by the hand, saying,' Poor Tishe, lo(»k 
to good things ! Poor child, tiiere is no comfort without it ! One 
drop of the love of God is worth more than all the world. 1 know 
it. 1 have tasted it. I have felt as much or more of the love of 
God in this weakness than in all mv life before.' At another time 
as I stood by him he looked up upon me, and said, * Dear father, 
sit by me ! I love thy company, and 1 know thou lovest mine ; and^ 
if it be the Lord's will that we must part, be not troubled, for tiiat 
will trouble me.' 

" Taking something one night in bed just before his going to 
rest, he sat up and fervently prayed thus : ' Lord God ! Thou 
whose Son said to his disciples. Whatever ye ask in my name ye 
sliall receive, I pray thee in his name bless this to nie this night, 
and give me rest, if it be thy blessed will !' And acctirdingly he 
had a very comfortable night, of which he took a thankful notice 
before us next day. 

'• And when he at one time more than ordinarily expresse<l a 
desire to live, and entreated me to pray for him, he added, ' And, 
dear father, if the Lord should i-aise me. and enable me to serve 
him and his people, then I might travel with thee sometimes, and 
we might ease on another,' (meaning in the ministry). He spoke 
this with great modesty; upon which I said to him, ' My dear 
child, if it pl-ase the Lord to raise tliee, I am satisfied it will be 
so ; and if not, then, inasmuch as it is thy fervent desire in the 
Lord, he will look upon thee just as if thou didst live to serve him, 
and thy comfort will be the >ame. So either way it will be well : 
for, if thou shouldst not live, I do verily believe thou wilt have the 
recompense of thy good desires, without the temptations and trou- 
bles that would attend if long life were granted to thee.' 

" Saving one day thus, ' I am resolved I will have such a thing 
done,' he immediately corrected himself, and fell into this reflec- 
tion with much contrition, 'Did I say, I will } O Lord, forgive 
me that irreverent and hasty expression ! F am a poor weak crea- 
ture, and live bv Thee, and therefore 1 should have said. If it pleas- 
eth Thee that I live, I intend to do so. Lord, forgive my rasli ex- 
pression !' 

" Seeing ray present wife ready to be helpful and to do any 
thins: for him. he turned to her. and said, ' Do not thou do so. Let 
them do it. Don't trouble thyself so much for sucli a poor crea- 
ture as I am.' And taking leave of him a few nights before his 
end. he said to her, ' Pray for me, dear mother ! Thou art good 
and innocent. It may be the Lord may hear thy prayers for me ; 
for T desir? my strength again, that 1 may live and employ it more 
in his service.' 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 61 

•■' Two or three days before his departure he called his brother 
to hmi, and, lookinj; awfully upon him, said, ' Be a good boy, and 
know that there is a God, a great and mighty God, who is a re- 
warder of the rigliteous, and so he is of the wicked, but their re- 
wards are not the same. Have a care of idle people and idle com- 
pany, and love good company and good Friends, and tiie Lord will 
bless thee. [ have seen good things for thee since my sickness, 
if thou dost but fear the Lord : and if I should not live (though the 
Lord is all-sufficient), remeiiibcr what I say to thee, when 1 am 
dead and gone. Poor cliild. the Lord bless thee ! Come and kiss 
iTiP !' which melted us all into great tenderness, but his brother 
more particularly. 

" Many good exliortations he gave to some of the servants and 
others that came to see him, who were not of our communion, 
as well as to those whu were, which drew tears from their eyes. 

" The day but one before he died he went to take the air in a 
coach, but said at his return, ' Really, father, I am exceeding 

weak. Thou canst not think how weak 1 am.' ' My dear child/ 

I replied, ' thou art weak, but God is strong, who is the strength 

of thv life." * Aye, tliat is it,' said he, ' which upholdeth me.' 

And the dav before he departed, being alone with him, he desired 
me to fasten the door, and, hioking earnestly upon me, said, 
' [)ear Father ! thou art a dear father ; and I know thy Father. 
Come, let us two have a little meeting, a pi ivate ejaculation to- 
get- er, now nobody else is here. O, my soul is sensible of the love 
of God !' And. indeed, a sweet time we had. It was like to pre- 
cious ointment for his burial. 

'• He desired, if he were not to live, that he might go home to 
die there, and we made prepa-ation for it, being twenty miles from 
my house, and so much stronter was his spirit than his body, that 
he spoke of going next day. which was the morning he departed, 
and a symptom it was of his greater journey to his longer home. 
The morning he left us, growing more and more sensible of his ex- 
treme weakness, he asked me, as doubtful of himself, ' How shall 
I go home ?' I told him, in a coach. He answered, * I am best in 
a coach ;' but observing his decay, 1 said, ' Why, child, thou art at 

home every where.' ' Aye,' said he, ' so I am in the Lord.' I 

took that opportunity to ask him if I should remember his love 
to his friends at Bristol and Tiondon. ' Yes, yes,' said he, ' my 
love in the Lord, mv love to all friends in the Lord and relations 
too.' He said, * Aye, to be sure.' Being asked if he would have 
his ass's milk or eat any thing, he answered, ' No more outward 
food, hut heavenly food is provided for me.' 

*" His time drawing on apace, he said to me, ' My dear father, 
kiss me ! Thou art a dear father. I desire to prize it. How can I 
make thee amends P 

" He also called his sister, and said to her, ' Poor child, come 
and kiss me !' between whom seemed a tender and long parting. I 
sent for his brother, that he might kiss him tio ; which he did. All 
were in tears about him Turning his head to me, he said softly, 
* Dear father ! hast thou no hope for me .'" I answered, ' My dear 
child ! I am afraid to hope, and I dare not despair, but am an^ 



ft* MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

have been resigned, though one of the hardest lessons I ever learn- 
ed.' He paused awhile, and with a composed frame of mind he 
said, ' Come life, come death, I am resigned. O, the love of God 
overcomes my soul !' Feeling himself decline apace, and seeing 
him not able to bring up the matter that was in his throat, some- 
body fetched the Doctor ; but as soon as he came in he said, ' Let 
my father speak to the Doctor, and I'll go to sleep ;' which he did, 
and waked no more ; breathing his last on my breast the tenth day 
of tlie second month, between the hours of nine and ten in the 
mornins, 1696, in his one-and -twentieth year. 

" So ended the life of my dear child and eldest son, much of my 
comfort and hope, and one of the most tender and dutiful as well 
as ingenious and virtuous youths I knew, if I may say so of my owa 
dear child, in whom I lost all that any father could lose in a child, 
since he was capable of any thing that became a sober young man, 
mv friend and companion as well as most affectionate and dutiful 
child. 

" May this loss and end have its due weight and impression up- 
on all his dear relations and friends, and upon thoseto whose hands 
this account mav come, fur tlieir rememl)rance, and preparation 
for their 2;reat and last cliange, and I have my end in making my 
dear chdd's thus far public. 

" William Penn." 

William Penn was but little from borne during tlie present year. 
Indeed his domestic situation did not allow im. He was, how- 
ever, not unenployed. One effort, t'le prod'ice of his contempla- 
tive hours, appeared in the publication af '' Pri-nitive Christianity 
revived in the Faith and Practice o*' the People called Quakers, 
written in Testimonv to the present Dispensation of God through 
them to the World, that Prejndicf'S mav be removed, tlie Simple 
informed, the Well-inclined encouraged, and Truth and its inno- 
cent Friends rio;litly represented." This book contained a sum- 
mary of the faith and practice of the Quakers, in which be threw 
new light u:)on some noints which he had before bandied. I sub- 
mit ^o the ?-eader the following concise analysis of its contents. 

He be;j:an by statins; their grand fundamental principle ; name- 
ly, the lii-rht of Christ in man. Its nature was divine ; that is, 

though in man. yet not of man, but of God.- He quoted the evi- 
dence of Scrioture for this principle and its various names — for its 
divinity' — for the creation of all things by it. It produced sal- 
vation, being life as well as well as light to men. He proposed 

and answered three objections to the doctrine advanced : first, 
that it was a mere natural light ; secondly, that it lighted not all ; 
thirdly, that it was that onlv which was taught bv Christ in the 
flesh : after which he endeavoured to confirm its divinity and uni- 

VPrsalitv still further.- He expatiated upon the virtue of this 

principle within, as it gave discernment, as it manifested God, and 
as it save light to the soul,*— —It was the very ground of the apos- 
tolical message. He answered an objection as to two lights.— 

The same objection had been anticipated and answered by the 
apostle John.— -This principle or light was the same with the Spirit. 
—This he attempted to prove from the properties of the two when 



OF WILLIAM PSNN. ^ 

compared. — He illustrated the difference between its manifesta- 
tion and operation in Gospel-times, but not in principle. He 

took into consi(!e ation several other objections auainst it, among 
which were — tliat if men had always had it, how came it that Gos- 
pel-truths were not known befo.e Christ's cominiu; ? — that, allow- 
in;: the Jews to Iiave had it. it ditl not follow that the Gentiles had 
it also — and that, if it were one principle, why were there so nianv 
sliapes and modes of religion, bctii heathen, patriarchal, and Chris- 
tian, since the world began ? -He went into the origin of idola- 
try. — — He contended tliat this principle was the best antidote 
a a-nst it — a:'d that it was the only oiie by wiiich man couhl know 

01' become the image of God. He htid down wliat he conceived 

to he the doctrine of satisfaction and justification accordinj: to the 

Scriptures. Tlie Quakers believed in this doctrine as he had 

then explained it. but not as pei verted by many otiiers. I'hey 

owned Christ as a sacrifice and a mediator. — - — Justification was 
two-'^old ; fit St from guilt, and secondly from the pollution of sin. 

' They believed, not mysfically, but substantially and really, 

the coming of Christ in the flesh.' — This creed was no objection to 
a belief of his spiritual appearance in the soul.~-Men could not 
be saved by their belief of the one without tlie sense and experi- 
ence of the other ; that is, they could n?>t lie saved by Christ v\ ith- 
out them, while they rejected his work anrl power within them, 

giving themselves up to evil ways- The true worship of God 

consisted of the Gpeiation of the Spirit and Truth in the inward 
parts. — 'I'he true ministry proceeded from the same source. — The 
true ministers of Christ were his witnesses, who spoke what they 
knew, having passed f'-om a degenerate to a retleemed state — - 
They were known again, because, having received freely, they 
preached freely, that is, without cost to tlu'ir hearers. — After this 
he specified what customs the Quakers could not conscientiously 
adopt, with their reasons for rejecting them ; but, as most of these 
have been mentioned before, it seems unnecessary to repeat them. 

About this time George Keith, who had made such a disturbance 
among the Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Territories, and who 
bad since arrived in England, began to have recourse to his old 
practice of fomenting disputation and strife. Angry at having 
been di graced by their disownment of him, he turned all his ill 
will against them. He had gained on his return a few adherents, 
and with these he held separate meetings at Turners'-hall in 
London, where he challen2;e«l the Quakers to dispute with him on 
the subject of religion. William Penn was much grieved by his 
conduct, and, being able no lonirer to bear it, he wrote a little book, 
which be called " More Work for George Keith." In the preface 
to it he described the man, as it was then said, aptly, and bis rest- 
less «nd factious spirit ; and in the body of it he took pains to re- 
fute the lies which he then jwopagated, by transcribing passage* 
from bis former works, in which the man himself had vindicated 
the Quakers in the very points on which he was then condemning 
them. 

In this year William Penn paid a visit to the Czar of Muscovy, 
afterwards called Peter the Great, the ioundcr of the Russian em- 



Wi SftMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

pire, wlio was tVien in England. The Czar worked at this fini«, ar* 
a cmnmim si ipw right, h\ the King's dock-vard at Deptlord, in or** 
tier that he n>ij,ht know the iirt of ship-building practicallj, and 
thti9 Say the i'oundatioii of a Russian navy, \\ hen ke chose to re- 
las for awhile, he \vent *o Lond«>n, w here he had a large house at 
the bottom of Y*»rk.-b'jildings. Here Prince Menxikoft" wasstation* 
ed. as well to recetv«» him as to accoujpany hitu when he visited 
tie Nobiiity or Mhei» he went to Couit. As it was rumoured that 
the Czar resided here, Gilbeit MoUeson and Thomas i^tory, two 
Fespecctahle Quakers, wejit and gained access to him, and convers- 
ed with him, bv means ol an interpreter, on the subject ot their re- 
ligion. They presented him also with Barclay's Apology, in Lat- 
in. and other b')oks. The Czar inquired, h^ mieans of the sanio 
interpreter, whether theb oks were not written by a Jesuit. He 
"wasal^o curious to know two things ; first, why the Quakers did 
not pay respect to great peisons, when in their presence, by tak'^ 
ing oft" their hats ; and, secondly, of what use they could be in any 
kingdom, seeing they would not hear arms and fight. This con- 
versation, with other particulars, having transpired, and it being 
afterwards understood that the Czar knew nothing of Latin, but 
only his own tongue and High Dutch, William Penn felt a partic- 
ular desire to see him. Accordingly be waited upon him, accom- 
panied by Gc'trge Whitehead and others. He t^iok several books 
with him, explanatory of the principles of his oun Society, which 
had been translated some years before into the High Ihitch lan-^ 
guage. These he presented to the Czar, who received them gra^ 
ciously. A conversation ensued between them in the same lan- 
guage, which W'illiam Penn spoke fluently. The Czar appeared 
to be much interested by it, so that the visit was satisfactory to 
both parties. Indeed he was so much impressed by it that after- 
wards, whi'e be was at Deptlord, he occasionally attended the 
meetin;: of the Quakers there, when he conducted himself with 
great decorum and condescension, changing seats, and sittingdown, 
and standing up as he could best accommodate otliers. Nor was 
this impression of short duration : for in the year 1713, that is, 
sixteen years afterwards, when he was at Frederickstadt in Hol- 
S*ein with five thousand men to assist the Danes against the 
Swedfs. '> '.e of his firet enquiries was, whether there were any 
Quakers ui the place ; and being ti»ld thete were, he signified his 
intention of attending one of their meetings. A meeting was ac- 
corclino;lv appointed, to which be went, accompanied by Prince 
Menzikoif. General Dolgorucky.and several Dukes andgreatmen. 
?(»on after they were seated the worship began. Philip Defair, a 
Quaker, rose up and preached. Th-' Muscovite Lords showed 
their respect by their silence, but they understood nothing of what 
was said. To remedy this, the Czar himself occasionally inter- 
preted as t'le words were spoken : and when the discourse was 
over, he commended it by saying, that whoever could live accord- 
ina: to such doctrines would be happy. 

We mav now see what passed in America during the present 
year. Ma ! ham. it appears, called the i\ssemblv on the tuenty- 
siAth of October for the dispatch of business. They met accord- 



ifigly ; but one of their first acts was to send him a remonstrance* 
Thfy had met, they said, to sliow their daty to tJu- King ; but he, 
Markh4ii«, follouing the practice of FJetcIier, had acted illegally 
in hib public proceeiliiigs, both with respect to them and the other 
iranch of the legislative body. He had refused to issue his writs few: 
•choosing members of the Council and Assembly on the last char- 
teral day. and had moreover discouraged the people from electing 
at that time. He liail conv'ened them also contrary to former usage. 
He had in the last session also dismissed them abruptly, and he 
had refused to sanction the new Act of Settlement, though it had 
beeii.'uodelled and afterwards altered according to his wishes. 
They nad therefore to lequest of him that he would restore to 
them their ancient rights. 

It does not appear what reply Markham made to this remon- 
strance j but in a short timeafterward he sent them a letter,by means 
O- their Speaker, which he had received from Governor Fletcher 
of New-York, and in which ho, Fletcher, requested more money 
of them for the relief of the Indians. '1'hey returned no answer to 
this ; but instead of it they requested him to pass the new Act of 
Settlement, and to issue out his writs for choosing a full number of 
representatives to serve in the Provincial Council and Assembly 
on the tenth day of the first month next, according to Chajter ;; 
adding, that if the Proprietary (William Penn) should disapprove 
the sauie, then this his act should be void, and in no way prejudi- 
cial either to him or the people. Upon this a new Act of Set 'le- 
nient was pjepared. It provided among otlier things, that tvo 
persons only should be chosen out of each county as the Kepresen- 
tatives of the people in Council, and f(»ur out of each as their Rep- 
resentatives in Assembly. Thus the Council was to coi.sistin fu- 
ture of twelve instead of eighteen, and the Assembly of twenty- 
four insteqd of thirty-six. It provided also {seeing what had hap- 
pened under Fletcher) that all persons elected to Council and As- 
semblv, and all appointed to offices of state and trust, who should 
conscientiously scruple to take an oath, but who. when lawfully 
required, would make the declaration of their Christian belief ac- 
cording to an Act passed in the first year of William an<l Mary^ 
sliould be allowed to make their solemn affinnafion in lieu there- 
of. It enacted again, that the Assembly should liave pov^er to 
prepare and propose to the Governor anil Council all such Bills as 
they or the major part of them should at any time see needful to 
he passed into Laws, not however debarring the Governor and 
Council the same privilege i; and that the said Assembly should sit 
upon their own adjournments, and continue for public purposes, un- 
^il the Governorand Council forthe time being should dismiss them. 

The Bill, containing these and oth.er provisions, which conferred 
iSuch new and important privile<i,es upon the AssemMy, having been 
prepared, was at lenfith brought in. It was soon afterwards passed 
by Markham. The immediate consequence was, that the Assembly 
ontheir part passed a Bill for the money which Fletcher had proposed 
to them to raise through the medium of the latter: the sum was three 
hundred pounds, hut it was to be appropriated entirely to the relief of 
ihe distressed luUiaiis who inhabited the country above Albany. 



MEMOIRS OTF THB LIFE 



CHAPTER X. 



^ 1697" — fuhlUhes ^'^ Jl Caution humbly offered about pasRing^ 
the Bill against Blasphemy^' '—Bill is dropped — a£'airs of lenn^ 
sylvania. 

William Penn after the death of his eldest son took ahoiiseat 
Bristol, where he and his 'aniily now resided. We hear hui* ialie 
of him during the present year*. VVe know of only one (vi:.,r.ia- 
tion, which was that of a small paper, and which he wrote on tiie 
fol I owinji; occasion • 

A Bill was depending in the House of Lords against blasphemy, 
William Penn was of course in favour of any law whicl had in 
Tiew such a moral end ; for, among those laws whicli he had estah- 
lishe<l in Pennsylvania and the Territories thereunto annexed, was 
one against speaking profanely of God Christ, the Spirit, or the 
Scriptures. But the object of this Bill was very different. It was 
to make the denial of certain ideas lelative to the Trinity, as con- 
tained in a certain formula of words, blasphemy. The paper there- 
fore, which he wrote at tliis time, and which he afterwards distrib- 
ed amona the Lords for their perusal, consisted of considerations 
on the subject He showed, first, from the incorrect wording of 
the Bill, that it would have but a partial effect, for that many thou- 
sands residing: in the kii.gdom might blaspheme, and yet escape its 
pena'ti^s. But he showed what was far more important, tiiat, 
ivhere the Bill would actualh' reach the offenders, it would open 
all the doors of Persecution, and occasion mischief to all classes of 
people, and toChuichnien and Dissenters equally. If the Bill 
were to contain a creed, he hoped that tliis creed would be given 
in the terms of Scripture, and not in the wods of men's own wis- 
dom, which, were lia' le to ambi5;uous interpretation. Thus, for ex- 
ample, the Bill enacted, that, if any educated in or professing the 
Christian religion within the realm denied any of the persons in 
the holy Trinity to be God, they should be liable to a certain pun- 
ishment : but he had rather the Bill would enact (if there must be 
a Bdl at all), tliat if any denied any of" the Three th;^t bore rec- 
ord in Heaven'" to be Gf»d, the same punishment should follow : 
for many might believe and own the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 
to be God according to the holy Scriptures, and yet scruple the 
term pemsons. ISow all sucli, even Chuichmen tliemselves. might 
be brougH by unprincipled informers under severe sufferings 
merely for words and terms, when they sincerely owned the sub- 
stance of the doctrine wluch the Bill approved. This paper is 
said to have made its impression upon several of those to whom it 

• We only know tliat fie rode with William Edmundson onhisway toMelksliam, 
and with James Dickinson on his wfiy into Cumberland. It was his custom, whea 
ministers of his own Socipty came to Bristol to preach, toacconapany them on horse- 
back for some miles out of the city, on their return home, or on their way to other 



OF WILLIAM PfeNN. Of 

was addressed. At any rate, the Bill was dropped in tlie same 
session. 

Vv itii respect to his Ameiican concerns, I may observe, that 
Markham, having called tie Assembly in the pieseiit yKHv botii at 
the proper time ami accoidin-:. to the proper form, la:d belcire 
th.eni, as in the preceding, a letter which he had ixceived Iroiil 
FIt-tcher, the Govern(»r ot" New -York. Fletcher itiiormed him, 
tiiat the three h.uudred pounds sent to him last vear hud been spent 
in cinitingericn^s, as he called them, to feed and clothe ti.e Indians 
according to th.e vote of that session, and requested ui the 'Ssem- 
bly furtiier assistance in the same way. The letter v\asaccoid- 
in^ly referred to a tJommittee, consisting both oi the Council and 
Assembly, for their- answer. 'I'he result was, that they thariked 
t'-e Governor for his attention towar'ds tiienr in ha\ing applied the 
irronev to the use intern. ed, but an to a uriher supply at pr-esent, 
the\ could not consent to it They ur^ed the infancy, poverty, 
and ii.cumhei-ed state of the Province, as reasons tor not accedirrg 
to his wishes At the same time they declared their readirress to 
observe the Kirrg's further commands as far as their abdities and 
their reli.i;ious persuasions would i.ermit. This was the substance 
of their public answer. It was obvrous, however, that they bejian 
to view the demands of Fletcher with a suspicions eye. He had 
no sooner heen armed with public power than he asked tl.em for 
money ; and, when he had obtained what he wanted, he asked 
t'^ern for more. Thus taxation had bejiun, and an acquiesrence in 
the present demand might have been to render it permanent. 
They toiesaw, if they did not immef^ately attempt to stem h.e 
torrent, that they might be involved by means of their local con- 
nections, in all the evils of the old corruj>t and mil tary Govern- 
ments, and that expense and miser-y might I'e entailed u^on 
them for gererations to come. '1 1 ey h.ad a fear too, that ti.eir 
money had heen used, not to supply the Indians with what t: ej 
mer-ely wanted, but to make them presents, that is. to bribe or en- 
tiro them into a confederacy aj^ainst other Indiars en.a^ed by t'-e 
Fi-encb ; thus drawing inn(»cent people into the horrors of the 
quarrel, and buvinji; up blood on one side to be expended for Idood 
on the otlier. tinder these impressiorrs. as well as itnder- the con- 
sideration that the colony, then oirly in an infant state, hati been 
settled bv persons, many of whom were hut in moderate ciicoM- 
stances. arid others of whonr had bori-owed capita! for their advpii- 
tuie, they thoug' t t!iey might he excused, if they refused the ap- 
plication which had been made to them. Tiiey h.ad an expecta- 
tion also, that William Penn would soon occupy his fomier sta- 
tion amrmg them in bis own person, and they t'n)U"bt It not im* 
proper to suspend their decision concerning it till hia return. 



Q8 <KBMOIRS OF TJ^E LIFE 



CHAPTER XL 

A. 1698— ^o?s to Ireland as a minister of the Gospd — writes 
" Tke Quaker a Christian''^— mid " Gospel Truths as held bij 
the Quakers" — preaches at Dublin^ Lamhstowii, Wexford^ Wat- 
erford^ ClonmeL Cork, and many other places — has his horses 
seized at Ross—^incident and interview with the Bishop at Cash- 
el — returns to Bristol — writes "• Gospel Truths defended against 
tke Bishop of CQrk\s Exceptions''^ — <^oes to London to take leave 
of adventurers ta Pennsylvania in the ship Frovidence—<returns 
to Bristol — rvriff'S " Truth of God as professed by the People 
called (limkersJ'^ 

William Penn began now to think seriously of returning to 
Amej-ica ; but it was necessary that he should first settle his pri- 
vate affairs. He \im\ a large estiite in Ireland, which he had form- 
erly superintended, and whicli he was desirous of visiting again. 
He felt himself also particularly called upon to work once more 
as a religious labourer in the vineyard there. Accordingly, tak- 
ing leave of his family, he proceeded to Holy-head. Here he met 
by appointment Thomas Story and John Everott, two other minis- 
ters of tlie Gospel belonging to his own Society. These now join- 
ing him, they embarked in the same vessel; and pursued their in- 
tended course. 

When tliey arrived at Dublin it was the time of the half-yearly 
meeting of the Quakers. Meetings for worship were usually held 
at this season, and they %vere generally well attended, not only 
by members of the Society but by others. But when it was known 
that William Penn had arrived, and that he was likely to come 
forth among the Preachers, they w^r^ more than ordinarily crowd* 
cd. Many of the nobility and also of the clergy were present, and 
among the latter the Dean of Derry, who was much pleased as 
well as with the matter as the manner of his discourses. In the 
intervals of these meetings he took an opportunity of visiting the 
Lords Justices of Ireland, and several of the cliief ministers of 
the Government ; thus discharging the offices of friendship, and 
at the same time raising in their minds a good disposition towards 
those of his own religious persuasion, which might be serviceable 
to them on a future day. 

It is remarkable, while he was in Dublin, that John Plympton, 
the person whom he had silenced between two and three years be- 
fore at a dispute at Melksham in Wiltshire, as then related, was 
there circulating a pamphlet called " A Quaker no Christian." 
This coming to the ears of William Penn, he answered it by anoth- 
er, which he called " The Quaker a Christian," and which he al- 
so circulated in like manner. But that he might do away the im- 
pression, if any had been made by Plympton, he thought it proper 
to draw up a little paper to inform tlie people of Ireland what the 
principles of the Quakers were. It was entitled " Gospel Truths 
held by the People callgd Quakers.'' It contained eleven princi- 



OK WILLIAM PENS'. 69 

•pies as embraced hj them. It was signed by himself and three 
otl'.ers. But to render the information still more complete, here- 
printed, while there, the eighth and ninth chapters of his "Prim- 
itive Christianity revived." 

The half-yearly meeting being over, he left Dublin in company 
uith Thomas Story and others, and began his journey into the 
country. The first meeting he held was at Lambstown, M'here he 
preacheil. From tlience he went to Wexford : here anotlier meet- 
ing; was gathered. From Wexford he set out for ^'V aterford. He 
had previously given notice that he would hold a meeting there oft 
the same day ; but at Ross, on his way thither, he was detained 
for some time by a curious incident. Some of the horses belong- 
ing to him and the company had been ferried over the river, while 
they were at dinner ; but the rest had been stopped and seized. 
Tlie Irish Parliament had passed an Act, in order to discourage 
Avhat they called the evil purposes of Papists, that no Papist should 
keep a horse of tiie value of five guineas and upwards : anv Pro- 
testant discovering and informing against buch a horse, might bring 
it to the Magistrate, and, by tendering him five guineas to be paid 
t<» tlie owner, might keep it afterwards as his own property. Up- 
on tliis plea it was that they were detained ; for Lieutenant Wal- 
lis and the Cornet Montgomery, of Colonel Ecclin's dragoons, 
clioosing to suspect William Penn and his Friends o( being Pa- 
pists, in the hope of getting a large booty, had made the seizure ; 
for which they liad previously obtained, upon their own informa- 
tion, a warrant from the Mayor. The warrant stated that, where- 
as several persorts, whose names were unknown, then in the town 
of Ross, were Papists within the construction of tb.e late Act, and 
had in their custody several horses of the value of five guineas 
each horse ; and information having been given of the same, the 
Constables were required to make diligent search both for the 
persons and horses, and to bring them before him (the Mayor) 
that tliey might be dealt with according to law, and the true mean- 
ing of said Act. William Penn and his Friends, not knowing 
Avhat had taken place, went after dinner to take boat ; " but as 
they were about to enter it, about half a dozen dragoons stepped 
in before them, and forced it off from the shore ; which William 
Penn observin*;, he went to some of their officers and gentlemen 
standing on the key, reasonably expecting they should so resent 
the abuse, as at least to reprove the soldiers ; which when they 
neglected, it became obvious that it was done by their direction to 
prevent the passage. Then William Penn said to them with a 
suitable freedom and resentment, * What ! are you gentlemen 
and officers, and will you stand here and suffer such insolences in 
your onen view P " Soon after this William Penn and several 
other Friends passed the river, and taking the horses, which had 
been ferried over before the seizure, thev proceeded to Water- 
ford. The others staid behind to settle the matter about those 
"which were in custody, which they recovered by taking out a re- 
plevin. It may not he improper to observe, that William Penn 
wrote afterwards to the liOrrls Justices of Ireland to complain of 
the abuse. The result was. that the officers were confined to their 



70 MWMOIRS OF TftE LIFE 

chambers. The latter, fearing they would be broke, made appli» 
ca'ion to Colonel r'ursel, tiie <iovern')r of VVaterfoid, to use his 
iiitei-est with Williain Penii in tlieir l>ehalf This the Colonel 
did, Ani\ " William Penn," says Thomas Story, " who was not a 
mn of revenue but ofjasti e andmercv. so soon as he found 
thi'ii- requi-st was ma e in a dje sense of their t-rror, delayed 
not to solicit for tliem accordingly ; upon which they were re- 
leaSf^l and forgiven.''' 

Bi!t to return. William Penn, having crossed the river, and 
availed himself of t;ie use of one of the horses which had been fer- 
ried over, proceeded to 4'aterfotd. The delav however had heen 
such that he did not arrive there till nearlv the time of«f!ie Meet- 
ing. Here, after a suitahle opi>ortni.itv of silence, he pre;iched. 
As he had been expected, grea* multitudes were present. It wag 
said that the Bishop and several of his Clergv were eqnallv curi- 
ous to hear him : but they did not go within tlie walls of t'le Meet- 
ing, satisfying themselves with what they could pick up of his dis- 
course in an adjoining garden. 

After leaving \\"aterf«)i<l he attended two jNfeetings at Clonmel, 
one at Youghall. one at Cuk. and one at Bandon. While on t is 
latter excursion he tank an opportunitv of visiting his estates. He 
spent however but t'lroe davs upon one, and two upon t'le other ; 
during which he made all tie arrangements that seemed necessary. 
After t'lis he paid a visit to L )rd Shannon, and from thence re- 
turned to Cork. 

During his stay at Cork he held several Meetings, which were 
crowder' beyond lormer example, \t one of tin se in particular he 
is sail to have delivered !iimself in an extraordinary manner. 
Thomas Story, soeakiri.^ of it in his .lournal. i naracterizes it thus: 
*' T'le Lord was mi;i;!itily w ith him on that dav. clothing him with 
TTiiuesty. holy zeal, and divine wisdom, to the great satisfaction of 
Friends there, an<l admiration and applause of the people." He 
visited t!;e Bishop also, who leceived him in a friendly manner. 
Fiii'iing him conversant with t'^e writings of the Society, and be- 
lievinn; In 11 to he a moderate man, he presented him with one of 
those little papers, which he had published at Dublin, called " Gos- 
pel Truths held bv the People called Qnaki'rs." 

Having left ('ork he held two Meetinsis at Charleville, one at 
Ijimeric, and another at Birr. Here the diurch-clergvman, who 
had attended his discourse, waited upon him in the evening to 
compliment him upon it, and to converse with him on the subject 
of religion. From Birr he jiroceeded to Mountmellick, Edender- 
rv, and Lurgan ; at all of wliich places he preaclied to large assem- 
blies, and with great advantaa;e to the char.icter of his own Socie- 
ty ; but particularly in the latter place, because many professors 
among the Sectarians, who attended I'im. acknowdedged that the 
Quakers had been wronged hv false reports cotcernina. their prin- 
ciples and doctrines. From Lui'gan he returned to Dublin. Here 
lie spent several days, during which he frequently renewed the 
exercise of his gift as a minister of the Gospel in that city. 

After this he travelled into the count: v a<;ain, and among other 
places arrived at Cashel. Being there on one of the days on which 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 71 

the Quakers usually held their puhlic worship, he went to their 
place of meetiiii^; but no sooner were t'.e doctrs opened than it 
was filled. Being prevented from jjetting in so S()on as some oth* 
er of his Friends, he took his station in an adjoininj^ room, where 
he finished some important letters. In process of time the Meeting 
bejran. The first who rose up to preach was John Vaughton : but 
he had not proceeded far in his discourse when the Mayor of the 
town, accompanied liy constables, appeared by the direction of the 
Bishop, and in tlie King's name ordered the congreo;atipn to dis- 
perse. V^nii((liti)n, upon hearing the summons, (for the Mayor had 
made but little way into the Meeting-house,) stated aloud, that he 
with (Ither Friends had been admitted into the presence of King 
William before he came from Kngland ; tliat the King had asked 
him. If the Quakers had full liberty in all his dominions to exer- 
cise their religion without molestation ; that, not knowing any 
thin:>; to the contrary, thev had an-wered. That t'lrough the good 
providence of God, who had placed him on the throne, and his own 
kind indul ence, they ba<l now more liberty than before, for whicli 
they were thankful both to God and the King ; that the King said 
in reply. That if any disturbed the Quakers in the exercise of their 
religious liberties, and t!iey would make him acquainted with kt, be 
would provide for them therein, and protect them. And liere ad- 
dressing himself to the Mayor, he said, " Thou "disturbest our 
Meetins;. and comraandest us in the King's name to disperse, as if 
we were ajrgfessors. But wbet!i®r we sliould obey thee without 
law. or believe t'e King's word and accept of bis royal protection, 
according to law, let all that hear judge." After this Thomas Story 
rose, and made some pertinent remarks, which seemed to have ir- 
ritated the Mayor, so that the latter attomr^ted to press forward to- 
wards him ; hut his attention was taken off'by a message from Wil- 
liam Penn in the adjoining room. It was clear that the Mayor did 
not like the en and upon which the Bishop had sent him ; for he 
immediately took the opportunity, which this message afforded him, 
of withdrawing": himself from the Meeting. William Penn treated 
him on his entrance into the adjoining room witli all the respect 
due to bis office. The result of their conversation was, that the 
Mayor was to wait upon the Bishop to solicit bis patience till the 
meeting was over, at which time William Penn and others would 
wait upon him (the Bi8bo|)) at his own bouse. This promise they 
performed. An interview afterwards took place. William Pena 
could not help expressing to the Bishop his surprise, that as a gen- 
eral libertv had been granted by law to the King's subjects to wor- 
ship God in their own way. provided they conformed themselves 
to the law, and as tlie very Meeting they attended had been held 
on the day and in the place when and where the Quakers usually 
met, he (tlie Bishop) should have ordered the Mayor to disturb 
them. The Bishop made no hesitation in bis reply. He had been, 
he said, that morning to cliurch ; and, when there, he had found 
nobody to preach to but the Mayor, Churchwaidens, a few Con- 
stables, and the bare walls, his congregation having deserted him 
for the Quakers. Chagrined at this circumstance, he had sent the 
Mayor and Constables with a mesisrige fr> them, but he owed them 
10 



7^ MEMOIRS OF THE tlFU 

no ill will. Soon after this tliey parted upon seeming good terms 
the one with the other. The Bishoi . however, finding; afterwards 
that he had violated the Toleration-.\ct, wrote to tiie Karl of Gal- 
way and the other Lord Justice of Ireland, stating, in excuse for 
his conduct, that " Mr. Penn and the Quakers had gathert^d to- 
gether in that place, that day, such a vast multitude of people, arid 
so many armed Papists, that it struck a terror into him and the 
town : and not knowing what might be t'le consequence of such an 
appearance, he had sent the Mayur and other Magistrates to dis- 
perse them." 

A^'illiam Penn after this proceeded to Cork, preaching at seve- 
ral towns as he went along. At Cork also he had several meet- 
ings, as well as in the country round about. Here he foDnd lis 
friend the Earl o' Galway, who showed him the Bishop's letter 
above mentioned. Having now been between two and three 
months in Ireland, and having preached in the Queen's county, 
and the counties of Kildare, Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford. Water- 
ford, Cork, Limeric, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, he anrl Thomas 
Story took their passaije in the .Tane of London, to he landed in the 
Bristol Channel. But while he was embarking he received a let- 
ter from the Bishop of Cork, in answer to the little pappr he had 
left him, entitled *• Gospel-Truths as held by the i eople called 
Quakers." Plie Bishop, it appears, had examii'ed the eleven arti- 
cles contained in it. and sent his opinion in writinj:' upon each. 
The fault he found with *' Gospel-Trnths," thouj;)" particular, may 
be conveyed generally in the words of the Preface to bis own Let- 
ter: " The only articles,"" says lie, '- in which you have expressed 
a sufficient Christian belief. ;ire your sixth, touching Justification, 
and your last, touching Government and your .'submission thereto. 
I wish you may always stick tu this belief and practice; and T hear- 
tily rejoice to find you ackn-wledge tl>e necessity of Christ as a 
propitiation, in crder to remission of sins and justifying you as 
sinners from guilt. 'Tis the first time I have heard of itamrmg 
you. As to all the rest of your articles (I mean those which f un- 
derstand), I must tell you, the declaration of your faith comes so 
short of what is required from people to denominate them Chris- 
tians, that, except under each article you believe more than you 
have declared, you cannot be accounted Christians. For. first, in 
those articles of fait!) which you have thought fit to mention, you 
have set down only some little ends (? had almost called them 
snaps) of the article : and. secondly, many .iiore whole articles of 
the true Christian faith, and which are of no less import, you have 
entirely omitted, waved, or sunpressed." 

Wiliiam Penn was not a little disturbed at this letter : but he 
had now no time to answer it. heinu; then on hoard ; and therefore 
he put it into his pocket, with a view of replying to it at a future 
time. In a day or two after this he and Thomas Story were land- 
ed at Minehead, from whence they proceeded to Bristol. Hisfirst 
employment after his arrival at home was to write " A Defence of 
a Paper called Gospel-Truths against the Except ons of the Bish- 
op of Cork's Testimony." He was more than five weeks in com- 
posing it. Thomas Story transcribed it for him. It elucidated 



OF WILLIAM PENN. f^ 

{nore and more the principles embraced by those of his own relig- 
ious profession. 

lu about six weeks after the publication of this, William Penn 
went to Lotidoii, aad from thence to Deptford, tu take leave of 
several Fiien is who were going out as adventurers on board the 
Provideac'-, of LoikIoii, Captain Cant, for Pennsylvania. Among 
the?': WIS Thomaii .Story himself, 'i he latter had for some tinie felt 
a grovv'tni^ de>ire of heinji useful there. He was a man of an un- 
counnonly cicar understanding, and of considerable knowlcilge, as 
it .i'lated to the K>nglis^\ law. On this latter account William 
Pei'.'i, who had besides a great regard for him as a man, and for his 
ta-^tus as a minister, liad in some measure encouraged the inclina* 
tion fie had manife-^ted for the voyage. It appears that, before 
eaiUng, they held a religious meeting in the great cabin, where Wil- 
liam Penn broke out into prayer •' for the good and preservation of 
all, and especrally of those who were going to leave their native 
country ; with tiianksgiving also for the lavours of God, and for 
that holy and preci(»us opportunity of their then spiritual enjoy- 
ment, as an addition to his many former blessings." 

On his return to Bristol he wrote " The Truth of God, as held 
by the People called Quakers, being a short Vindication of them 
from the Abusi'S and Misrepresentations put upon them by envious 
Apostates and mercenary Adversaries." This work he was indue-- 
ed to undertake in cwisequence of the mistakes which even yet 
prevailed respecting the tenets of the Society. It was in fact a yet 
further elucidation to the elucidation just before given to the public 
in his Answer to the Bishop of Cork. It treated further concern- 
ing God — JesusChrist — the Holy Scriptures — Baptism — thebreak- 
ing of Bread — the Light of Christ — >t!)e Father, Word, and Spirit 
— Works — Christ as our Example — Freedom from Sin — iWorship 
to God — God and Christ as in Man — Christ coming both in Flesh, 
and Spirit— -the Resurrection — Separation — Magistracy. 

With respect to Pennsylvania, things are said to have gone on 
well for this year. We find, however, a Proclamation by the Dep- 
uty Governor, Markham, against illegal trade, the harbouring of 
pirates, and the growth of vice. It appears, however, to have been 
issued, not because these or other wicked practices in particular 
prevailed, but because they had been spoken of in England as pre- 
vailing there ; and therefore it was thought proper to let the in- 
habitants both of tlie Province and Territories know what had been 
reported against them, that they might be particularly on their 
guard in these respects in future. As to illegal trade, or the har- 
bouring of pirates, no legal regulation was thought necessary in 
consequence of the Proclamation, becaiise neither of the evils was 
said to exist ; but as to vice, which prevails more or less in all so- 
cieties, it was proper to do something: and therefore, in conformi- 
ty vi'ith the said Proclamation, the Magistrates were instructed by 
the Deputy Governor, by way of preventive, to curtail tlie number 
of ordinary or innkeepers, and to I'cense those onlj upon whose 
good conduct they theught they could depend. 



f4 MEMOins OF THE LIFE 



CHAPTER XII. 



40. 1 699 — reUscions iJispnfe nt West IhreJiam hefwrnt the ^uaJcers 
and the jVoriolk clergij — writer a paper against '• J brief Dis- 
covery ^ the 'reduction of tkf latter — •nlsu " J just censure of 
Francis Bugg^s Address^- — prepares for a voyage to Jimeiica — . 
draws up " jdviceto his C/iiLirenfor their civil and religious 
Conduct''^ — also, on embarking, ''^ A Lett? t to the Peopeof God 
called (Inakers, icheryver scattered or gathered''^— ^arrives in the 

- Delaware — incidents there— ij '(low fever— 'proce ds to /'hiladet' 
phia — visits in the country — anecdote ^elated of him while at 
ttyierion — meets the Assembly — passes Bills against -piracy and iU 
licit trado— extreme severity ojf the weather. 

In the beginning of the present year a puhlic dispute was held 
at West Dereham in Norfolk, between some clergynit-n of the Es- 
tablished Church and a like number of Quakers, relative to certain 
doctrines in religion. The former it appears, did not carry their 
point, at least with tiie auditors ; the consequence of which was, 
that many of the clergy (»f the county made a common cause of it, 
and that some o^ the most able of them produced a pampldet, call- 
ed " A brief Discovery," in which they laid open what they sup- 
posed to be the mischievous errors of the Quakers, both as they re- 
lated to their principles and practice. In no book had the Quakers 
been more misrepresented or calumniated than in this, and in no 
one was a worse intention manifested tnwards tliem ; for its ten- 
dency was to set aside t!ie indulg'jnre which t'-e Toleration-Act 
had given to them among others ; and in order that it miijht make 
an impression to this end, it was presented formally to the King 
and J'arliament. 

William Fenn did not think it necessary to make an especial re- 
ply to this pamphlet, having in the course of his works answered 
the contents of it over and over again ; but to counteract its effects 
he circulated a small paper artionu- thp Lords and Commons, in the 
name of the Society, of \vhic!i the following is a copy : 

" It does not surprise us to be evilly intreated,and especially by 
those who have an interest in doing it : but if conscience prevailed 
more than contention, and charity over-ruled prejudice, we might 
hope for fairer quarter from our adversaries. 

'• But such is our unbappiness. that nothing less will satisfy them 
than breaking in spon the indulgence which we enjoy, if they could 
persuade the Government to second their attempts to a new per- 
secution ; in order to which we perceive they have been hard at 
work to pervert our books, violate our sense, abuse our practice, 
an«l ridicule our persons ; knowing very well vvith whom they have 
to do, and that the patience of our profession is their security in 
ahusing it. 

" However, if it has weight enough with our superiors to make 
them expect a fresh defence of our principles and practices, we 
«haU, with God's assistance, be ready for their satisfaction once 



6)F WILLIAM PENW. 75 

more to justify both against the insults of our restless adversaries, 
who otherwise, we take leave to say. wouUI not ileserve our no- 
tice : since we have already repeatedly answered their objections 
in print, and think it our duty, as v. ell as wisdom, >o use the lib* 
erty the Government h;is favoured us with, in as peaceabie and in- 
oftensive a manner as may be. 

" Wii LiAM Penn.'* 

He wrote, besides the above, " A just Cei sure of Francis Bugg's 
Address to the Parliament against the Quakers." 

At this time VV illiiim Penn was preparing to depart for his Gov- 
ernment in Pennss Ivania. It may be rememfiered. when he went 
his first voyage, that 'e left his family behind him. ami that he left 
behind him als<) a beautiful letter to his wife and children, (in the 
present occasion he determined to take his wife and family witli 
him ; notwithstanding whicli he thought it right to compose an ad- 
dress, which he called '' Advice to his Children for their civ 1 and 
reli::ious Conduct." He was aware that death might arres-t him in 
his course : and therefore, in case of .,uch an event, he determined 
that they, his children, should know, when he was dead, what his. 
mind would have heen as to then conduct on a great varietv of oc- 
casions, had hebeen living. This address is a small volume of itself. 
Even an analysis o' it would he too long for insertion here. Some 
idea however may be formed of it by statiig, that it breatl;es the 
spirit. an<l contains many of the sentiments. of the firstbenutiful let- 
ter just mentioned, and t'lat now and tt'en we discover in it thoughts 
a'milar to some of those in his '' Fruits of Solitude," which was a 
collection, as the reader will reinemher. of reflections and maxims, 
the I'psult of his own experience, for the c(!nduct of human life. 

Having written this Ins advice, and prepared all other matters, 
he and his family proceeded to Cowes iti the isle of ^\ ig! t, where 
they embarked. Here, before the ship sailed, he wrote a farevAell 
letter to the members of his ov.n religious Society, as he ha»l (!one 
in his former voyage when lying in the Downs. It was called " A 
Letter to tlie People of God called Quakers, wherever scatt»'red or 
gathered, in Kngland, Ireland. Scotland, Holland, Germanv. or in 
any other Part of Euroj)e." The tenour of it was like that of the 
former, exhorting them to watch >'or t'eir daily preserviition, to 
turn their minds inward and there wait to feel their Re(b>.pmer, 
and to keep up the trtie fear and love of God ; witliout whicli they 
would decay and wither. 

After a tedious passage of nearly three months he arrived in the 
River Delaware on the last day of November. Just about tl'is time 
a most horrible distemper, called then the Yellow Fever, had ceas- 
ed. This distemper had been very fatal in several of the '' est- 
India Islands some years before. Thomas Story, whom [ men- 
tioned in tl^e last chapter to have gone to Pennsylvania the preced- 
ing year, witnessetl its rise and progress tl'.ere. He says in his 
Journal, tliat " while he was in Philadelphia six, seven and eight a 
dav were taken oft" for several v\eeks together." 'n desnibing the 
effect it bad upon the minds of those who beheld its progress, he 
speaks thus : " Great was the majestv and the hand of the Lord. 
Great was the fear that fell upon all flesh. I saw no lolty nor airy 



f6 MteMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

countenance, nor heard any vain jesting to m<ive men to laughter;; 
nor witty repartee to raise mirth ; nor extravagant feasting to ex- 
cite the lusts and desires ;)f the flesh abov3 measure : but every 
face gathered paleness, and many hearts were humbled, and coun- 
tenances fallen and sunk, as of those who waited every moment to 
be sumnioned to the bar, and numbered to tiie grave." 

I have been induced to mike this <ligression on this particular 
subject, because the yellow fever ha^ geneially been considered as 
having originally sprung, and this of late years, from Africa, and 
as having been imported from thence to our West Indies, and af- 
terwards from thence to America. But the foregoing account fal- 
sifies such an idea, and fixes it to its proper latitudes. It may not 
be unimportant, in the future consideration of this distemper, to 
view it as one of long standing, and as belonging to those climates 
where its awful visitations have been so seveiely felt. 

But to ?-eturn. William Penn arrived in the River Delaware. 
By the time he had sailed past Chichester it began to be evening, 
and, meaning to sleep that nisiht on shore, he ordered out his barge. 
Having landed, he proceeded to the house of Lydia Wade, ne" 
Chester. Here he found Thomas Story and some other of his 
Friends, with whom he spent the evening. It is said their conversa- 
tion, during this time was chiefly on the aft'ars of the Government. 

The next norning he went over the creek in a boat to Chester, 
** and, as he landed, some young men ofiici'iusly, and contrary to 
the express orders of some of the Magistrates, fired two small sea- 
pieces of cannon, and being ambitious of making three out of two, 
by firing one twice, one of them, darting in a cartridge of powder 
before the piece was sponged, had his left hand and arm shot to 
pieces ; upon which, a surgeon being sent for, an amputation took 
place." 

Having just seen and spoken to his old friends at Chester he re- 
turned to the ship, when, weighing anchor, he and his family were 
conveyed straight to Philadelphia. On his arrival there the inhab- 
itants were readv to gather round him. They received him with 
the marks of universal joy ; nor was this joy allayed by any cruel 
accident as in the former case, every precaution having been taken, 
since the news of what had happened at Chester reached Phila- 
delphia, to prevent a similar calamity there On the other hand, it 
was increased bv the belief that it was the intention of the Gover- 
nor, as he had frequently expressed in his letters, to fix his resi- 
dence among them during the remainder of liis life. 

Hirs first object after his arrival at Philadelphia was to call the 
Assembly. Fortius purpose he issued his writs ; but ascertain 
previous notice was required by law. he could not bring them to- 
gether so speedily as he wished. In the mean time he went about, 
not withstanding the extraordinarv severity ofthe weather, wherever 
he thought bis presence would be looked fur or useful. We find him 
acordingi y at one time at the quarter-sessions of the peace at Ches- 
ter ; at mother at the marriage of SamuelJenings's two daughters at 
Burlington ; at another at a youth's meeting there ; and at another 
at a general meeting of the Welsli Quakers at Haverfordwest. 
While he was at the latter place, he left it to sleep one night at 



OF WILIIAM PENN. if 

Merion, Here happened wliat is related of him by SutclifFin his 
Jate publication, entitled '• Tiavels in some paits of North Amer- 
ica in tiie years 1804, i805, and 1806 ;" an anecdote which ou^ht 
not to be passed over. ^' A boy, about twelve years old, son of the 
person at whose house he lotlj^ed, being a lad of curiosity, and not 
often seeing such a guest as William Penn, privately crept to the 
chamber-ddor up a flight of steps on the outside ot the building. 
On peeping through tlie latchet-hole he was struck with awe in 
beliolrlin;. this great man upon his knees by the bed-side, and iti 
hearinir what he said, for he could distinctly hear him in prayer, 
and in tl.anksgiving that he was then provided, for in the wilder- 
ness. This circumstance uiade an impression upon the lad's mind, 
which was not effaced in old age." I may remark, that during 
these and other excursions at this time the cold was intense. It 
rained frequently and froze ;it the same time, so that the fields are 
described to have been " as cakes of ice, and the trees of the woods 
as if candied." In going over to Burlington, to Samuel Jenings's 
as before mentioned, tlie passage was very dangerous, the ice drift- 
ing down in large columns. This occasioned his detention there 
three days, it being impossible till after that time to repass the 
river. 

At length the Assembly met. The Governor in his address to 
them stated, that he wassorry that he had felt Iiiinself obliged to call 
them together at this inclement season, seeing that the general bu- 
siness of the Province and Territories did not particularly require 
their attendance ; but it was necessary for his own reputation, and 
that of the Assembly, that two Bills should be immediately passed," 
one for the discouragement of piracy, and the other for the pre- 
vention of illicit trade. He represented to them the odium which 
the Pennsylvanians had incurred in England on account of a no- 
tion that such mal-practices existed among them; and added the 
obligation he was under to his superiors to see the same corrected 
as soon as he had the power of Government in his own hands. 

Upon this address the subject was taken into consideration. Two 
Bills were accordingly drawn up, and which, after many altera- 
tions and additions, were passed into I.aws. It is a curious cir- 
cumstance, that a clause was added to that for discouraging pira- 
cv, forbidding; all trade from the Province and Territories to Mada- 
gascar ; but a belief obtained with the Government of England at 
this time, that in<liviHual pirates concealed tlv mselves in different 
parts of the New Settlements in America, and that it was the in- 
tention of these to remove their trade and magazines, and to form 
a junction and to establish a colony of freebooters in that island. 
It is also remarkable, when Markham stated publicly, in the pre- 
ceding year, that no pirates had found their way to the Prov- 
ince or Territories, yet that very soon after William Penn's arri- 
val two persons were put to gaol on suspicion of having been con- 
cerned as such, and another was admitted to bail on the same ac- 
count, who proved to be tlie son-in-law of Markham himsflf. Dur- 
ing this session, which held nearly sixteen days, little else was 
done than the consideration and framing of these Bills. One or 
^wo vacant office? M'ere filled, and certain salaries regulated. The 



78 MPMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

cold indeed was so intense, that the health of the memhera wonM 
have sutFered. 'lad it continiit^d hjiiger. They could not pass about 
as usual, noi keep themselves waim during: their sittings. At one 
time, after t' ev had met to forward the public business, they were 
ohliiied to adjourn entirely for the latter cause. Very few notv\ith- 
Standin^ absf^nted themselves, and frequently all were pr sent. 
A« s.'on. however, as the two Rills were finished, they broke up, 
and returned to their respective homes. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

jf, ITOO-^prnpnsfs and carries in his oivn monfhly mfetin^ Beso- 
liif'ons relative to Iniians and A'egro slaves — reinoves obstruc- 
tionf and nuisanct;s in the ci tf— calls the Jissembly— proceedings 
of the same — visits and receives Indians — travels in the ministry 
through the Province and Territories, and in t le Jcrsrys and 
J^Iari/lnnl — anecdotes of him wtiile on this excursion — • alls a 
new Assembly at JVcwcastle — substance of his speech to them — 
proi-eedings of the same — their dissrntions— 'these allay d by his 
wisdom and justice — particulars relative to their rules and 
customs. 

William Penn. havin? passed bis Bills against piracy and illi- 
cit trade, retired to bis mrinsjon at Pennshurv- which was tb.en as 
well as a^'terwards the p'ace of bis general residence. There were 
two «)bjects which ^t t'lis ti>ne particularly occupied bis attention 
there. He had already iotereste 1 himself in one of them during 
his first residence in \nuM-ica. namely, the instruction and civili- 
zation of tMi> Indians. He was now desirous of resuming it, and 
also of tiikins; into ctm-ideration the otln-r, which related to the 
condition >f African or Ne^:ro slaves. 

T must observe on the latter subject, that soon after the colony 
had been planted, that is. in the year !683. when William Penn 
•was first resident in it, some few \fricans bad been imported, but 
that more had followed, \t this timf' the traffic in slaves was not 
brauf'ed with infamv as at the present day It was considered, on 
the other hand, as favourable to l>otb parties : to the American 
planters- because they liad but few labourers in comparison with 
the extent of their lands ; and to t!ie poor Africans themselves, be- 
cause thev were looked upon as pe'-sons redeemed out of supersti- 
tion, idolatry, and heathenism. But though the purchase and sale 
of them had been admitted with less caution upon this principle, 
there were not wanting among the Quakers of Pennsylvania those 
who, soon after the introduction of them there, began to question 
the moral licitness of the traffic. Accordingly, at the yearly meet- 
ing for Pennsylvania, held in 1688, it had been resolved, on the 
suggestion of emigrants from Crisheim who had adopted the prin- 
ciples of William Penn, that the buying, selling, and holding men 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 79 

\n slavery was inconsistent with the tenets of the Christian reli- 
gion. In 1696 a similar resolution had been passed at the yearly 
meeting of tlie same religious Society for the same Province. la 
consequence then of these noble Resolutions, the Quakers had be- 
gun to treat tlieir slaves in a manner difterent from that of olher 
people. Tliey had begun to consider them as the children of the 
same great Parent, to whom fraternal offices were due ; ami hence, 
in 1698, there were instances where they had admitted them into 
their meeting-houses to* worship in common with themselves. 

William Penn was highly gratified by the consideration of what 
had been done on this important subject. From the very first in- 
troduction of enslaved Africans into his province he had been so- 
licitous about their temporal and eternal welfare. He had always 
considered them as persons of the like nature with himself, as hav- 
ing the same desire of pleasure and the same aversion from pain, 
as children of the same Father, and heirs of the same pmmises. 
Knowing how naturally the human heart became corrupted and 
hardened bv the use of power, he was fearful lest in time these 
friendless strangers should become an oppressed people. Accord- 
ingly, as his predecessor George Fox, when he first visited the 
British West India Islands, exhortetl all those, who attended his 
meetings for worship there to consider their slaves as branches of 
their own families, for wliose spiritual instruction they would one 
day or other be required to cive an account, so William Penn had, 
on his first arrival in America, inculcated the same notion. It lay 
therefore now upon his mind to endeavour to bring into practice 
"what had appeared to him to be right in principle. To accomplish 
this, there were two ways. One of them was, to try to incorporate 
the treatment of slaves as a matter of Christian duty, into the dis- 
cipline of his own relis;ious Sacietii : and the other to secure it 
among others in the colony of a difterent religious description, bif 
a legislative act. Both of these were necessary. The former, 

* I cannot help copying; into a note an anecdote from Thomas S tor)''s Journal for 
tliis year. '• On the tliirteenth," says he, " we had a pretty lar^e meetingf. where 
several were tendered, among which were some Negroes. And here I shall observe, 
that Thomas Sin.ons having several Negroes, one of them, as also several belonging 
to Henry White, had of late ct5me to meetings, and, having a sense of Truth, sev- 
eral others thereaway were likewise convinced and like to do well. And the morn- 
ing that we came from Thomas Simon's, my companion speaking some words of 
Truth to his Megro-woman, she was tendered, and as I passed on horseback by the 
place where she stood weeping, I gave her my hand, and then she was much more 
broken ; and finding the day of the Lord's tender visitation and mercy vipon her, I 
spake encouragingly to her, and was glad to find the poor Blacks so near the Truth 
and reachable. She stood there, looking after us, and weeping, as long as we could 
see her. I had inquired of one of the black men, how long they had come 
to meetings ; and he said, ' they had always been kept in ignorance, and dis- 
regarded as persons who were not to expect any thing from the f.ord, till Jonathan 
Taylor, who had been there the year before, discoursing with them, had informed 
them that the grace of God through Christ was given also to them; and that they 
ought to believe in and be led and taught by it, and so might come to be good 
Friends, and saved as well as others. And on the next occasion, which was when 
William Ellis and Aaron Atkinson were there, they went to meetings, and several 
of them were convinced.' Thus one planteth. and another wateretb, but God giv- 
e.th the increase.'' 



WW MEMOIRS OV THE LIFE 

however, he resolved to attempt first. The Society itself had al- 
rtt-ady aifnrded liim a precedent by its Resolutions in 1688 and in 
1696, as before mentioned, and had thereby done something ma- 
terial in the progress of the work. It was only to get a minute 
passed upon their books to the intended eilect. Accordingly, at 
the very first monthly meeting of the Society, which took place in 
Phrladeiphia in the present year, he proposed the subject. He laid 
before them the concern which had been so long upon his mind, re- 
lative to these unfortunate people. He pressed upon tliem the du- 
ty of allowing them as frequently as possible to attend their meet- 
ings for worship, and the benefit that would accrue, to both by the 
instruction of tliem in the principles of the Christian religion. The 
result was, that a meeting: was appointed more particularly for the 
Kegroes once every month ; so that, besides the common opportu- 
nities thi^y had of collecting religious knowledgebyfrequentingtlie 
places of worship, there was one day in the month, in which, as far 
as the influence of tlie monthlv meeting extended, they could nei- 
ther be temporally, nor spiritually, overlooked. At this meeting 
also he proposed in<?ans, which were accede^l to, for a more fre- 
quent intercourse between Friends and the Indians; he (William 
Penn) taking upon himself the charge of procuring interpreters, a3 
Well as of forwarding the means proposed. 

Among the objects w''ich occupied his attention at this time, was 
the inprovement of Philadelphia. When he left that city after his 
first voyase it contained about a liund red houses. At this timet'jey 
amo'inted to seven hundred. He issued an Order of Council for 
removing all the slaughter-houses to the bank of the river, so that 
the filth proceeding from thence might be constantly washed away 
bv the current. He removed also every thing in the way of ob- 
struction. Bv the first measure he consulted the health and clean- 
liness, and bv the latter the convenience, of the inhabitants. 

Having called the Assembly together according to due form on 
t'-e tenth ofMtiv. he sent them a message. Understanding that 
several of them were dissatisfied with the Charter which had l)een 
g-'-onted to them bv Markham in 1696, he was desirous, he said, 
t' .it thev should have a new one, more congenial to their own 
minds .ind circumstances. He accordingly sent to inform them, 
that " he was read v to propose to them a new form o*^ Govern- 
ment" This he chose to make the first Act of the Session, not 
onlv because he wished to show the Assemblv how far he regard- 
ed their interests and those of the other inhabitants of the Prov- 
ince and Territories, but because, by starting the subject thus ear- 
Iv, both he and thev would have longer time to consider it. and to 
make such alterations as would contribute towards its greater per- 
fection. 

On the first of June he attempted to realize the other part of his 
plan as it related to Negro slaves, which was to secure a proper 
treatment of them among all descriptions of people by a legislative 
act. Bv this time he had fullv considered the subject. He was 
aware that the sudden manumission of them would not he attend- 
ed with happy consequences even to themselves. Certain previous 
education would be necessary; and that species of education would 



OF WILLIAM PENN- 91 

"he best, which would most improve their moral conditian. To im- 
prove their moral condition, recourse must be had to moral means. 
Thus, for example, marria<j;e might be made a moral mean ; but 
then all polygamy mu .t be abolished, and all power (tf adultery 
prevented, as far as possible, botii on tiie part of blacks and whites. 
Rewards again might be used advantageously to the same end ; 
but then the evil-doer was not to escape punishment. Hence pun- 
isliment would be necessary. 'I'his, however, ought to be propor- 
tioned to men's knowledge of go«d and evil, and tlie nature of the 
oftence. Fair trials should be aftbrdt-d to the otfender also. Upon 
these principles he drew up a Bill ••for regulating Negroes in their 
morals and aiarriages," which he proposed to the Assembly on the 
day now mentioned. He sent in afterwards another for tlie '• reg- 
ulation of their trials and punishments ;" and on the fourt!'. of June 
a t!iird •' for preventing abuses upon the Indians/' But he had no 
sooner proposed these, than !iis feelings received as it were a con» 
vulsive shock. Can it he believed, that the Assembly could be so 
little studious of gratifying the wishes of their Governor, who had 
half ruined himself for them and the Province, eould be so igno- 
rant that these his proposals were built on the laws of Nature which, 
were immutable, or so ungrateful to God, who had furnished them 
when in affliction themselves with an asylum under so honourable 
a protector, as to have negatived two of these Bills, acceding only 
to that which related to the trial and punishment of their slaves ? 
Yet so it was. This conduct on the part of the Assembly must ap-» 
pear unaccountable to the reader ; and to help him to unravel it 
vve have nothing but conjecture. We have no reason assigned for 
it. Nor is there any record but of the fact itself. With respect 
to conjecture^ there are circumstances, however, which, when 
thrown together, may produce us a little light. In the first place, 
the administration of Fletcher had very muc'» soured the temper 
both of the Assembly and the inhabitants, and had disposed them 
to look cautiously at every proposal which came from the Govern- 
ment, and rather to resist than promote it. The jealousies, 
again, which were mentioned to have arisen between the inhabit- 
ants of the Province and tliose of the Territories, were in full force 
at this moment, so that what the Representatives of the former 
seemed very anxious to carry, those of tiie latter sometimes (and 
this merely out of a spirit of opposition) negatived to a man. Now 
it must he observed that, the Territory-men being principally 
Swedes and Dutchmen, very few if any of their members were 
Quakers. It must be observed also, that though originally the 
Members for the Province were mostly Quakers, yet tlie propor- 
tion of these, in consequenceof the great influx of people of a dif- 
ferent description into Pennsylvania in the last five or six years, 
had been reduced. It must he observed again, that the last com- 
ers were not men of such high moral character as the first; for 
whereas, before the Toleration Act. they who came to these parts 
were principally religious persons who came to seek a place of 
refuge from persecution ; numbers after the said Act flocked to it 
from a difterent motive, namely, solely that of getting money. 



8g MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Hence, not only the population of Pennsylvania, but they who 
represented it, were somewhat degenerate in comparison of their 
predecessorSo Had the majority consisted of Quakers, both these 
Bills must have passed ; for it is impossible that they coiild have 
refused to sanction in their legislative, what they had determined 
upon as essentially necessary in th.eir religious capacity. Besides, 
t iC Council of William Penn eonsisted wholly of Quakers. Now 
all these had joined the Governor in proposing to the Assembly the 
Bills in question. 

It is not necessary to specify the other Bills wliich were propos- 
ed in the present session. It may be sufficient to observe, that 
they were principally of a local nature, such as related to prop- 
erty, land, revenue, or commerce, and that they were all passed. 
In considering and passing them the Assembly were occupied 
about a month. They met, as [ before mentioned, on the tenth 
of May, and the Governor dissolved them on the eiiihth of June. 

William Penn, being now loosed from his attendance upon the 
Legislature (for he was almost daily confined to the Council- 
chamber, while it was sitting, to receive bills and messages, and to 
hold conferences), became once more a free man. Upon this he 
left Philadelphia, and rep;.ired to Pennsbury. While here, one of 
his first objects was to put in force the Resolution, entered upon 
the book of the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia, of keeping up a 
more frequent intercourse between Friends and the Indians. Ac- 
cordingly he made excuisions into the country for this purpose. 
We hear of him, very soon after tiie Assembly had been dissolved, 
at an Indian feast. It took place near a beautiful spring of water, 
■which was overhung by the brandies of loftv trees. Several bucks 
were killed. Hot cakes were served up also of wheat and beans. 
After feasting, some of the Indians danced. With the same view, 
he was desirous of seeing the Indians in turn at his own house. 
Hence Kings and Queens, with their followers, paid their visits to 
him. When they came on public business or in state, he received 
them in his hall of audience, which was a large roon^ built for the 
purpose, and in which was placed an oaken arm-chair, in which he 
usually sat when he confeired withtl.em on such occasions. It may 
be observed, tliat be made a treaty about this time with the Susque- 
hannah and other Indians. 

While at Pennsbury he undertook a journey through the Prov- 
ince and Territories as a minister of the Gospel. Atiiong the pla- 
ces he visited in this capacity was Haverford. An anecdote is 
recorded of him while going there, which is worth relating. A lit- 
tle girl, of the name of Rebecca Wood, was walking from Derby, 
■where she resided, to the same place, and also to attend the meet- 
ing there. It happened that William Penn, who was on horse- 
back, overtook her. " On coming up with her," says SutcliiF, " be 
inquired where she was going .^ and, on informing him, he, with 
his usual good nature, desired her to get up behind him ; and, 
brinoinghis horse to a convenient place, she mounted, and so rode 
away upon the bare back. Being without shoes or stockings, her 
bare legs and feet hung dangling by tiie side of the Governor's 



OF WILLIAM PENN". J95 

horse. Although William Penn was at this time both Governor 
and Proprietaiy, he d)cl not think, it beneath him thus to help a- 
long a poor bare-t'toted girl on her way to ineetinj^." 

It appears also, while he was at Pennsbury, that he travelled to 
other ineetiiigs ol the Society, which vvfre, out otthe limits of his 
own Pr.-viiice. Thus we find him preaching in the Jerseys. Thus 
■we find biuj also at a meeting in Maryland. Of this John liichard- 
soii, in his Travels, gives us tlie f«dh)uing account: '• We weie," 
says he, at a yearly meeting at Treddhaven, in Maryland, upon 
the eastern shore, to which nieetin;^' for worship came William 
Penn, Lord Baltimore, and his lady, with their retinue ; but it was 
latt' when they came, and the strength and glory of the heavenly 
power of t!;e Lord was going oli'from the meeting ; so the lady was 
much disappointed, as 1 understood by Will.am Penn, for she told 
him, ' she did not want to hear him, and sucii as be, for lie was a 
scholar and a wise man, and she did not question but he could 
preach ; but she wanted to hear some of our mechanics preach, as 
husbandmen, shoemakers, and such like rustics, for she thought 
they could not preach to any purpose.' William Penn told her, 
* some of these were rather the best preachers we bad among us,' 
or near these words. I was a little in their cimipany, and I 
thought the lady to be a notable, wise, and withal a courteously 
carriaged woman." 1 may observe here, tliat tiiese excursions in 
the ministry, together with ot'iers which he undertook into the 
Indian country as before mentioned, and to which I may now add 
those which he made to support the Magistracy by his personal ap- 
pearance among them, both at the quarter sessions and elsewhere, 
took up a considerable portion of his time, so tiiat it is doubtful 
whether he was not less at Pennsbury with his family than in other 
places. 

Writs having been issued, and a new Assembly chosen (for the 
old had served their year, as limited by the Charter), be summoned 
the new members to attend him at Newcastle on the fourteenth of 
October. The former had met him at Phihu'e'phia, the capital of 
the Province. He thoutibt it therefore but fair, and as showing but 
a proper impartiality, tliat these should meet him at the principal 
town in the Territories. On the day appointed they came together. 
The Governor qualified them in due form. This being done, they 
cliose their Speaker. The Governor then informed them by a mes- 
sage, that he had called them together on weighty occasions. He 
wished them to proceed in the consideration of the new Charter or 
Frame of Government, which the former Assembly bad discussed, 
but not settled. 'J'his C/harter was of great consequence both to 
them and their posterity. It was of no less importance to both 
thattliey should have good laws. He advised them, tlierefore, to 
revise those which had been agreed upon during bis former resi- 
dence among them, so that they might expunge, alter, or add, as 
they saw occasion. He laid helbre tliem also the necessity of a 
settlement of property, and of a supply for the support of the Gov- 
ernment: and he promised them, during their endeavours to attain 
these objects, all the assistance in his power. 



t4 MBMoma OF the life 

The message having been delivered, the House proceeded to 
business. Four Comiuittees were appointed for the purpose of 
dispatching it, according to the subji-cts it contained : namely, lor 
drawing up a new Frame of Government; for perusing the Laws 
with a view to alterations, repeals, or additions ; for drav/ing up a 
Bill for settling property ; and for considering of a proper supply 
for the support of the Government. I'pon these subjects they went 
to work, and they continued their attention to them almost exclu- 
sively to the end of the session. 

They had not however made any great progress in their proceed- 
ings, before the same jealous spirit manifested itself between the 
Members of the Territories and those of the Province, which has 
been before noticed. The former had talked but lately, as before, 
of breaking oft' their political connection with the latter ; but Wil- 
liam Penn, by his wise and conciliatory deportment, had disarmed 
them, so as then to have staved oft' tlieir intention. At this time 
however their jealousies were again awakened, and this upon 
bare surmises. They thought a time might come, when the Prov- 
ince might be divided into more counties, and that an additional 
number of Representatives for these might be required. In this 
case they conceived that those for the Province might out-number 
them in their votes ; and they actually went so far as to declare .in 
the Assembly, that they would not consent to the conlirmation of 
the union, but on the condition, '" that at no time hereafter, the 
number of the Representatives of the people in legislation in the 
Province should exceed those of the Territories ; but if hereafter 
more counties were made in the Province, and thereby more Rep- 
resentatives were added, that then the union should cease." To 
this condition the Members for the Province would not consent. 
Both parties however agreed to have a conference with the Gov- 
ernor on the subject. This conference accordingly took place. 
The Governor proposed, " that in all matters and things whatso- 
ever, wherein the Territories were, or should be particularly con- 
cerned in interest or privilege, distinct from the Province, then 
and in that case no Act, Law, or Ordinance, in any wise sliould 
pass in any Assembly in this Province, unless two parts in three 
of the Members of the said Territories, and the majority of the 
Members of the Province, should concur therein." This impartial 
proposal produced peace for the present, the Members for the 
Territories agreeing to postpone all discussion on the subject of 
the union to the next session. 

But scarcely was this matter settled, when another was necessa- 
rily brought forward, which divided them again. In consequence 
of the Report of one of the Committees, it was agreed, " That a 
sum of money should he raised out of the Province and Territories 
for the Proprietary and Governor, in order to a supply for the sup- 
port of the Government ;" but when they came to confer upon the 
raising of it, they could not agree upon what should be the propor- 
tion between the Province and Territories. It was proposed, first, 
that three pence per pound sliould be laid upon all estates, both re- 
al and personal, in the Province and Territories, for this purpose. 



OF WILIIAM PENN. 85 

This proposition was negatived. It was then moved, that two 
pence in the pound, and eight shillings per head, for every free- 
man in the Province and Territories, should be raised. Tins was 
negatived also. It was then moved that three half pence in the 
pound, and six shillings per head to every freeman, should be sub- 
stituted for the former mode. 'J'his was negatived also It was 
then moved, ttiat tliree pence per pound, and tAvelve shillings per 
head should be collected, but that one penny per pound of what it 
raised in the Territories should be returned to the latter in con- 
sideration of their extraoidinary charge in legislation. This was 
negatived also. And here it must be observed, that the Members 
of the Territories voted to a man exactly the reverse of what those 
of the Province did on every one of these occasions. In this awk- 
ward situation the supply never would have been carried, if it had 
not been for the wisdom of William Penn, who had entered into 
all tlie objections on both sides witii gretit minuteness and impar- 
tiality, and who desired a conference with the Assembl}^ on the 
subject. It was proposed by him that nineteen hundred pounds 
should be raised in the Province and Territories, four hundred of 
which should be paid out of the Territories, cle«r of all charges of 
collection, and fifteen hundred out of tlie Province, clear of the 
same charges, for the support of the Government. It was immedi- 
ately afterwards proposed, that one hundred pounds should be 
added to the aforesaid nineteen hundred, seventy -three pounds of 
which should be paid out of the Province, and the residue, twenty- 
seven pounds, out of the Teritories, for the same purpose. It was 
proposed lastly, that the Counties should pay their proportion as 
follows: Philadelphia County one thousand and tvventv-five 
pounds, Chester three hundred and twenty-five, Bucks two hun- 
dred and twenty five, Newcastle one hundred and eighty, Kent 
one hundred and thirty-nine, and Sussex one hundred and six. 
These propositions were severally agreed to. They were then in- 
corporated into a Bill, and in this shape brought again before the 
House and passed. Thus at length was completed a Law, the 
principle and equity of which were admitted by the discordant 
parties, and which provided pervwnenflif for the first time for the 
good government of the two federated ciuntries. 

William Penn having obtained this supply, which was more im- 
mediately wanted either than the alteration of tiie Charter or the 
revision of the Laws, was not so urgent for their determination 
upon the latter. These indeed were so important both to them 
and their posterity, that they could not v/ell be too often or too 
seriously discussed. He therefore prorogued the Assembly on the 
twenty -seventh of November, after having kept it sitting for about 
six weeks. 

In looking over the Journals of the Proceedings of this Session 
we are furnished with certain facts trifling in themselves, but 
which yet, as matters of curiosity, mav be worth noticinis:. It ap- 
pears first, that but verv few Members absented themselves during 
the whole session. They used t() meet twice a day for the dis- 
patch of business, namely, at eii^ht in t!ie morning and three in the 
afternoon. They were called togetherbythe ringingofabell. Any 



■^IS MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

Member who was half an hour behind the time was fined ten pence. 
Every Member had an allowance of three peace per mile for trav- 
elling charges, aad six shillini^s a day for his attendance in Assem- 
bly. The Speaker's daily allowance was ten shillings. Aurelius 
H )skins had twenty pf)unds for his attendance as Clerk. The \s- 
sembly vvas to sit in future once in three times in the Territories, 
an i the county in which they sat to pay the expense of room, fire, 
and paper. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

JJ, \70\— sets otit for East Jersey to queU a riot there— 'extracts 
frim a letter written on that occasion-— 'makes a trt'nty with the 
Susquehannah and other Indians — siisi^gests a plan of trade with 
them, to secure them from impnsitinn and to improve their morals 
-—calls the Jisse-nbiy — their proceedings — issues an order ^o 
watch against inv ision'—reneivs a treaty with another tribe of 
Indi'ins — accoiiti* of it— 'being called to F.ngland, summonses the 
Assembly again— its vroceedings — several tribes nf Indians come 
to take their leave of him— ^is rep' y to t.'ie same — signs a new 
Charter—constitutes and incorporates Philadelphia a city — ap- 
points a Co'incil of "^fa^e — and a Deputy Governor — embarksfor 
England — 'arrives there. ( 

William Penn was with his wife and family at Pennsbury, 
when 'le received the news that a riot had taken place in East Jer- 
sey, during which some of t!ie persons concerned in it had taken 
arms. It ap|>pars that a criminal had dared to put insolent ques- 
tions to a Magi-Jtiate in Court, and because the Magistrate had re- 
fused to answer t'lem the commotion had arisen. William Penn. 
on t'le receipt of the intelligence, hastened to Philadelphia, and 
there selected twelve of the most respectable of his own Society, 
■with whom he was procnMling to assist the Government in East 
Jersey to get the bettet- of the insurgents ; but being informed on 
his way that the matter had been settled, he returned home. He 
dispatched however a letter to his Friendsln that Government, by 
which wa see his sentiments in such cases : and that, though he 
was meek and tender in his nature, he could yet be firm where the 
cause of justice renuired it. He tells his Friends, that he " had 
received the surprising news of the practices of some East Jersi- 
ans, whidi were as unexpected to him as dislionourable and licen- 
tious in th -m. It wo I'd be hard to find temper enough to balance 
extremes ; for be knew not what punishment those rioters did not 
deserve, and he had rather live alone than not have such people 
corrigible. Their leaders should be eved, and some should be 
forced to declare them by the rigour of the law ; and those who 
were found to be such should bear the burthen of such sedition, 
which would be the best way to behead the body witiiout danger. 



OF WILLIAM PENK. 87 

if lenitives would not do, coeicives sliouiH be tried ; but tbough 
men would naturally begia w jtli the former, yet wisdom had often 
sanctione<l the latter as remedies, which however were never to 
be adopted but with regret." Further on in the letter, he says, 
*' that by being an old, and not the least preten:!er to East Jersey, 
and a neighbour in his station, if he could yet lie serviceable to 
compose or countenance a just prosecuticm of such rebellious prac- 
tices, let an exprt'ss reach hiio, and, God permitting, he would im* 
mediately take horse and go to them." 

Soon after this he lelt Pennsl)ury for Philadelphia again. He 
met there Connooda^htoh, King of the Susquehannah Indians | 
Wopatht'ia, Kinif of the /Shawanese ; Weevvhinjough, Chief of the 
Ganavvese : and A hookassong, brother of the Empeior of the five 
nations, with about forty Indians in their retinue, who came to re- 
new the good understanding which had subsisted between him and 
them, bv one general treaty for the whole. It is said that he re- 
C'ved t!iem in (council, and that many kind speeches passed be- 
t\ve<'n them. This was on the twenty -third of April ; when it was 
agreed that there should be for ever after a firm and lasting peace 
between William Penn and his heirs, and the said Kings and 
Chiefs and their successors in behalf of their respective tribes ;and 
that they should be as one head and one heart ; and thatthey should 
at no time hurt, injure, or defraud each other, or sufler each other 
to be hurt, injured, or defrauded ; but that tliey should be readv at 
all times to do justxe, and perform all acts and offices of friend- 
ship and good-will to each other that the Indians should behave 

themselves regularly and soberly according ti) the laws of Penn- 
sylvania while they lived in it, and that they should liave in re- 
turn the same benefit from the said laws as the other inhabitants 
of it that they should not aid or assist any other nation, wheth- 
er Indians or others, that were not in amity with England and the 
Government of Pennsylvania that if any of them heard any un- 
kind or disadvantageous reports of the Pennsylvanians, as if they 
had evil designs against them, (tlie Indians,) then such Indians 
should send notice thereof to William Penn, his heirs, or lieuten- 
ants, and not give credence to such reports till by these means they 
could be fully satisfied concerning the truth of the same ; and tl at 
William Penn, his heirs or lieutenants, should in such case do the 

like by them that they should not bring nor softer any strange 

nations of Indians to settle on the further side of Susquehannah, 
nor about Potomock river, nor in any other part of the province, 
but such as were there already seated, without the permission of 

William Penn, his heirs, or lieutenants that for the prevention 

of abuses, that v;ere too frequently put upon them in trade, Wil- 
liam Penn, his heirs, or lieutenants, should not permit any person 
to traffic witli them, but such as should have been first approved and 
authorized by an instrument under their own hands an(l seals, and 
that the Indians, on their part, sliould sufter no person whatsoev- 
er to trade with them, but such as should have been so licensed and 

approved that they should not sell t'-eir skins, furs, or other 

produce to persons out of the said province, but only to those pub- 
licly authorized to trade with them as before mentioned : and that. 

13 



8^ MEMOIRS OF THE EIFE 

for their encouragement, care should be taken that they should he 
duly furiiishet! vvith all sorts of necessary goods, and at reasonable 
rates ^hat the Pot-tmack 'iidians should have tree leave to set- 
tle upoii any part of Potomack river within the bounds of tiie prov- 
ince, so long as tliey conformed themselves to the articles ol this 
treaty. 

The treatv having been read, (by which the Conestosio Indians 
acknowledsjed and bound themselves to all the bargains for lan»ls 
made between them and Willinm Perm, as well those formerly 
as in the preceding vear.) the parties confirmed it by mutual pres- 
ents, the Indians in five parcels of skins, and VN illiam Peun in 
various parcels of Knglish merchandize, and also by putting their 
hands an«l seals to tlie same. 

Soon after this William Penn, in conformity with the said treaty, 
conferred vvitti his Council as to the best means of preventing im 
positions on the Indians in the way of trade. After deliberation 
upon the subject it was resolved, that persons should be selicfedfor 
their integrity, who should form a sort of company, with a joint 
«tock, and who should be a^'t'orized by the Government to hold a 
commercial intercourse with them. These however were to be in- 
jstructetl to take care to ktep from them spirituous liqi'orsas much 
as possible. Thev were also to use all reasonable means to bring 
them to a true sen>ie of the value of Christianity, but particularly 
bv setting before them examples of n-obity and candour, and to 
have them instructed in the fundamentals of it. This was proba- 
blvthe first time that trade was expressly made subservient to 
morals, and to the promotion of the Christian religion. 

In the month of .June (the sea coast having heen infested by pi- 
rates, and danger being then apprehended of French invasion) he 
summoned his Council again, after which the following Order ap- 
peared : •' The Magistrates for the county of Sussex shall take 
care that a constant waicii and ward be kept on the hithermost 
cape near Lewis : and in case any vessel appear from the sea, 
that mav with ^'ood grounds he suspected of evil designs against 
any part of the Government, Ordered that the said uatch shall 
for-t'uv'th give notice thereof, with as exact a description and ac- 
count of the vessel as they possibly can, to the Sheriff of the said 
county, who is required imnipdiately to disoatch a niessen^^er ex- 
press with the same to the county of Kent, from thence to be for- 
warded from Sheriff to Sheriff through every county, till it be 
brought to the Government at Philadelphia ; which watch and 
expresses sh.'l? he a provincial charge." 

In the month of Jul V having received a letter fiom the King, 
urgin;r him to hring the Province and Territories into union with 
the other Proprietary Go\ernments for their mutual defence, he 
called the Assembly, "^hey met accordinglv on the first of Au- 
gust He informed them in substance, t'.at the occasion of his 
calling them together at this time (though it was vvitb reluctance 
considering the season) was to lay before them the King's letter, 
requiring three hundred and fiftv pounds sterling from tlie Gov- 
ernment towards the fortifications intended on the frontiers of 
New-York} ^nd, though he might have some othec matters to lay 



OF WILLIAM P^NW. €© 

before them, yet he deferiod all till they had considered this 
point. 

This message, whicii it must have been difficult for William 
Penn as a Quaker to communicate, as well as for those who pro- 
fessed the same ieiigi')us faitli, toaccetle to, could not but disturb 
tlie AsstMubl}^. In<ieed it seems to have paralyzed them. They 
scatcely knew what to do. i'liey seemed to be w iUi»ig to do any 
thing ratlier than to come to a conclusion upon it. T'hey asked 
first to see the letter itself. W hen it had been shown them, they 
observed, tl.at it uas dated some time back. They sent thereforef 
to the Governor to know, if lie had received from t!ie King any in- 
formati(»n since. He replied in the negative. They then request- 
ed, that he would send them a copy of his own speech. He re- 
plied, that it had ni«t lieen his way so to do. They renewed their 
request. He then sontthem his sf.eech in substance. They applied 
to him to give it them more fully, '• for it was somewhat short of 
what they apprehen ied needful to ground their intended address 
upon, no particular mention being made in tlie copy sent them ei- 
ther of the Kinji's letter or of the s>um to be raised." He returned 
for answer, that his speech Inid been delivered extentpnre, and that 
he had sent them t'le substance of wliat he recollected of it; but 
if they tliouj^ht the particular insertion of the Kings letter nt ed- 
ful, he would order it to be inserted. After tliis, both parties having^ 
been in a state of unpleasant parley for four days, the Assembly 
sent an address to him, in which they stated their loyalty; but 
Tepresented, among other things, that. '* alter having taken into 
consideration tlie poverty of their constituents, and the great weight 
and pp ssure of the taxes, and having reason to believe that the 
adjacent provinces had hitherto done nothing in this matter, they 
thought it right to adjourn the further consideration of the King's 
letter till more emergent occasions should require their proceed- 
ings therein. In the mean time they earnestly desired be would 
candidly represent their situation to the Kiiig, and assure him of 
their readiness, accordini< to their abilities, to acquiesce with and 
answer his commands, so far as their religious persuasions would 
permit, as it became loyal and faithful subjects to do." The next 
afternoon the Assembly was dissolved, but at their own request, 
after a sitting of only six days. 

William Penn upon this leturned to Pennsbury to consider of 
the past, and to provide for the future. Here, another tribe of In- 
dians, which had not gone down to Philadelphia with those which 
have been before mentione<l in this chapter, came to him to re- 
new the treaty which he had made with it after his first voyage 
to these parts. John Richardson, a Yorkshire Quaker, who was 
then travelling in America as a minister of the Gospel, happened 
to be at Pennsbury at the time, and to witness what was done on 
the occasion. He has jriven an account of it in his Journal, but 
confesses that he has omitted many particulars. Imperfect, how- 
ever as the account is, I purpose transcribing it for the reader. 

" I was," says he, "at VVilliam Penn's country-hou>e, called 
Pennsburv in Pennsylvania, where I staid two or three da>s, on 
one of which I was at a meeting and a marriage, and much of the 



g© MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

other part of the time I spent in seeing to my satisfaction, Wil- 
liam Penn and many of the Indi-.ns (nut tlie least oi tleni) in coun- 
cil and consultation concerning their former covenants now again 
revived; all which was done in much calmness of temper and in 
an amicable way. To pass by several particulars, 1 may mention 
the following : one was. thev never first broke their ovenants icith 
other p ople ; for, as one of them said, and smote his iiaud upon 
liis head three times H'eij did not make them there in their heads ; 
but smiting his hand three times on his breast, said, they made 
them there in their hearts. And again, when V\'il:iam Penn and 
thev had ende' the most weiglity parts, for which they held ti-eir 
Council, William Penn gave them matclj-coats and some «»t';er 
things, wit!) some brandy and rum, or both, which was advised bj 
t'e S'.ieaker f<r the Indians to be put into the hands of one <d" their 
C ;'ciques, or Kings, for he knew best how to order them ; which be- 
inu done, the said King used no compliments, neither did the Peo- 
ple, nor the rest of their Kings : b t as the aforesaid King poured 
out 'lis dranis, he only made a motion with his finger, oi s nie- 
times with his eye, to the person w' ich heintended to give the 
dram to : so t'ley came quietly and in a solid manner, and took 
thi'ir drams, and passed awav \\ t 'out eitlier nod or bow. any fur- 
ther than necessity required those t(» stoop who were on their feet, 
to him who sat on the ground or floor, as their choice and manner 
is : and withal 1 observed, and also heard the like by others, that 
they did not, nor, I suppose, never do speak two at a iime^ nor in- 
terfere in the least one with another that way in all their Coun- 
cils, as has been observed. Their eating and drinking was in 
much stillness and quietness. 

" When much of the matters were gone through, I put William 
Penn in mind to inquire of the interpreter, if he could find some 
terms of words that might be intelligible to them, in a religious 
sense, by which he might reach the understandings of the natives: 
and inculcate into their minds a sense of the principles of Truth, 
such as Christ^s manifestins^ himself t>^ t\ie inward senses of the 
soul by his liight, Grace, or Holy Spirit, with the manner of the 
operations an^l working thereof in the hearts of the children of 
men ; and how it did reprove for etil and minister peace and com- 
fort to the soul in its obedience and well-doing : or as near as he 
could come to the substance of this in their own language. W ij- 
liam Penn much pressed the matter upon the interpreter to do his 
best in any terms that might reach their capacities, and answer tiie 
end intended : but the interpreter would not, either by reason, as 
he alleged, o^want of terms, or his unwillingness to meddle in re- 
ligious matters, which I know not : hut I rather think the latter 
was the main reason which obstructed him. Therefore we found 
nothing was like to be done according to our <lesires in this mat- 
ter, as the interpreter was but a dark man, and, as William Penn 
said, a wrong man for our present purpose. 

'• William Penn said, he understood they owned a Superior 
I ower. and asked the interpreter-, what tlieir notion was of God in 
t eir own wav. The infetpreter showed bv making several cir- 
cics on the ground with bis stall', till he reduced the last into a 



Off WILLIAM PEN!f. 9t 

»msi\\ circuwiferance, and placed, as he said, byway of representa- 
tion, t'le Gr('(ii Mart (as t'lev teinied liim) in t!ie middle ciicie. so 
th>.t lie could see o\ er all the other circles, which included all the 
eai th. And we querviiig w!'at they owned as to eternity or a fu- 
tme state, t- e interpreter said, t! ey believed, when such died, as 
\w:e ^uiity ofthcft.sx'.eaiinj:, lyinu, whoring, murder, and the like, 
they went into a very cold country, where they had neither good 
fat venisun. nor matcl-coats (which is what they u^e instead of 
clothes !o cover th»'m withal. beir:j>; of one jiece in the orni of a 
bhniket or bed covering) ; but those v\ho died clear ol the afore- 
sai i ^ins. go into a fine v\arm country, where they had good fat 
venison and <;ood match cants (things much valued by the natives). 
1 th()u<il t. inasmuch as these p(»or creatures had nest t!ie knowledge 
o! God bv the Sc'iptures. as we have who are called Christians, 
that what knowled<:e they bad of tie Supreme Bein,; must he by an 
inward sensation, or by contemplating upon the works ol G< d in ibe 
creation, or [)robably from some tradition handed down from the 
father to the son, by which it appears they acknowledge a future 
stite of rewarils and punislnnents ; the former of which thev ex- 
press by warmth, good clotlnng, and food ; and the latter by na- 
kedness, pining, hunger, and pieicing cold. 

"1 have often tliought and said, when 1 vvas amongst them, that 
jrenerally my spirit was very easy, and I did not feel that poiA er of 
darkness to oppr ss me as I bad done in many places among the 
people called Christians. 

'• After ^^ illiam Penn and they had expressed tlieir satisfaction, 
both for themselves and their people in ke-'pivg; all ttwiv former 
artirles iinviolrtefl. and no:,reei\ thai, if a iv pai ticular diPierences 
did happen amungst any of tl eir people, they should not be an oc- 
casion ol fomenting or creating any war between ^'. illiam Penn's 
people and tlie Indians, but justice should he done in all such 
cases, that all animosities might be prevented on all sifles Uw e> er, 
they went out of the liouse into an open place not far from it. to 
perform their (antico or worship, whic! vvas done thus: First, 
they made a small fire, and t' e men without the women sat down 
at out it in a ring : a .d whatsover nbjpct they severally fixed their 
eyes on, I did not see them move tliem in all that part of their 
worship, while they sang a very melodious hymn, whic' affected 
and tendered the hearts of many who were spectators. V^hen t' ey 
liad thus done, they began (as I suppose in their usual manpet) to 
beat unon the ground w ith li'tle sticks, or make some motion with 
something in their hands, and pause a little, till one of tie elder 
sort set« forth his hymn, followed by the company for a few ndn- 
utes, and then a pause ; and then the like was done by another. and 
so by a third, and followed by the company, as at the first: which 
seeme<l exceedingly toaff rt them and others. Having done, they 
rose up and danced a little about tite fi e, and parted with some 
shouting like triumph or rejoicing " 

About this time VVilliam P(>nn received ne'vs from England 
which was very distressing. The Proprietary Governors in North 
America bad begun to be unpopular with, the Governors at home. 
The truth was. that the Goveruors at home were jealous ol their 



^93 MEMOIRS OT THE LIFE 

increasing power, and therefore soon after the Revolution in 168S 
they had Toi ined a n;)tioii of buying them off, and of changing their 
Governments into regal under their own immediate contruul. Con- 
formably therefore with this idea, hut under the pretence of great 
abuse on the one side, and of n^itional advantage on the otiier, a 
Bill for this purpose was bro jght into tlie House of Lords. Stch 
of the owners of land in Pennsvlvania as were then in England 
represented tl>e hardsliip of their case to Parliament in the event 
of such a change, and solicited a respite of their proceedings till 
William Penn could arrive in En<i;land. to appear before them, 
and to answer for himself as one of those whose character tlie Bill 
in question affected. Accordingly they dispatched to him an ac- 
count of the whole affair, and solicited Ids immediate return to 
England. This was the substance of the news which reached him 
at this moment 

William Penn could not be otherwise than grieved at this intel- 
ligence. He was only then beirinninj;; as it were Ids intended im- 
provements. To be called away therefoie at this juncture was pe- 
culiarly distressin;;. To stay, on the other- hand, woui.: bi^ to sub- 
ject his Government to dissolution. He determined theieloi-e. af- 
ter a comparative view ol the 5»ood and evil in both case■^, to re- 
turn to England, and to plead his cause before the Parliament of 
the Parent-Country. It was necessary, however, before he re- 
turned, that he should attend to the finishini^ of those Laws whicli 
were then before the Assembly, as well as to others which he might 
have had it in contemplation to introduce. He tlierefore immedi- 
ately dispatched writs to the Sheriffs to call a new Assembly. This 
■was f|uickly done. The members were as quickly chosen. On the fif- 
teenth day ofvSeptemherthey met at Philadelphia ; after which, hav- 
ing been legally qualified,the Governor addressed them as follows: 
" Friends, 

*' You cannot be more concer-ned than I am at the frequency of 
your service in \ssembly, since I am very sensible of the trouble 
and charge it contracts upon the Country : but the motives being 
Considered, and that you must have met of course in the next 
month, I hope you will not think it an hardship now. 

" The reason that hastens y<>ur session is the necessity I am un- 
der, through the endeavours of the enemies of tlie prosperity of this 
Country, t;) go for England, where, taking advantage of my ab- 
sence, some have attempted by false or unreasonable charges to 
undermine our Government, and thereby the true value of our la- 
bours and prosperity. Government having been our first encour- 
agement, I confess I cannot think of such a voyaue without great 
reluctancy of mind, having promised myself the quietness of a 
■wilderness, and that I might stay so long at least with you as to 
render every body entirely easy and safe ; fur my heart is among 
■von as well as my body, whatever some people may please to think; 
and no unkindness or disappointment shall, with submission to 
God's providence, ever he ahle to alter mv love to the Country, 
and resolution to return and settle my family and posterity in it : 
but having reason to believe I can at this time best serve you and 
myself on that side of the water, neither the rudeness of the season 



OF WILLIAM PENV. 93 

iior the tender circumstances of my family can over-rule my in- 
clinations to undertake it. 

"Think therefor*.' (since all men are mortal) of some suitable 
expedient and provision for your safety, as well in your privi- 
leges as property, and you will find me leady to comply with, 
whatsover may render us happy by a nearer union of our interests. 

" Review again your laws; propose new ones that may better 
suit your circumstances ; and what you do, do it quickly ; remem- 
bering that the Parliament sits the end of next month ; and that 
the sooner I am there, the safer, I hope, we shall be here. 

" I must recommend to your serious thouglits and care the 
King's letter to me, for the assistance of New-York with 350Z. 
sterling, as a Frontier-Government, and t' erefore exposed to a 
mnc'i greater expense, in proportion to other Colonies ; which I 
called the Assembly to take into their consideration, and tiiey were 
pleased for the reasons then given to refer to this. 

" [ am also fo tell you the good news of the Governor of New 
York's happv issues of his conferences with the five nations of In- 
dians : that he hath not only made peace with them for the King's 
suhjects of that Colony, but, as [ had by some letters before desir- 
ed him. for those of all other Governments under the Crown of 
England on t!ie Continent of America, as also the nations of In- 
dians vxitliin these respective Colonies ; which certainly merits our 
acknowled<i;nients. 

" T have done when I have told you that unanimity and dispatch 
are the life of business ; and this I desire and expect from you for 
your own sakes, since it may so much contribute to the disappoint- 
ment of those that too long have sought the ruin of your young 
Country." 

To this sneech the Assembly returned the following reply : 
" May it please the Proprietary 
and Governor : 

*' We have this day in our Assembly read thy Speech deliver- 
ed to us vpsterday in Council, and, having duly considered the 
same, cannot but he under a deep sense of sorrow for thy purpose 
of so speedilv leavin;.' of us ; and. at the same time, taking notice 
cfthv paternal rei^-ard to us and our posterity, the Freeholders of 
this Province and Territories annexed, in thy loving and kind ex- 
pressions of being ready to comply with whatsover expedient and 
provision we shall offer for our safety, as well in privileges as in 
proppitv. and wha*^ else may render ushapi:y in a nearer union of 
our interests ; not doubting the performance of what tl ou hast 
been pleased so lovingly to promise, we do in much humdity, and 
as a token ot our gratitude, render unto thee the unfeigned thanks 
of this House. 

*' Joseph GuownoN, Speaker. 

On the sixteenth and seventeenth ihe Assembly occupied them- 
selves in foiining Committees and making arrangements for the 
dispatch of business, when the question for raising money for the 
fortifications of New York was proposed to them. Tins, however, 
they neaatived unanimously, alleging in justification of themselves 
the reasons before siven. 



114 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

On the twentieth they pt evented the Governor with an Address, 
coJitalning twenty -one articles, relative to privile:;^es and property, 
which they hi)pe S luight be acceded to, andasceitduied to them and 
their p:>steiity in their ChartiM-. 

The jSirst of these related to his Successor. To this he reulied, 
that he would take care o appoint a proper person, one orunex-- 
ceptioaable c'laracter. and in whom he could confi^ie, and whom he 
would invest with full powers for the security of til concerned ; 
but, to show how much he wished to gratify them in this respect, 
he oifered to accept a De:iuty Governor wIumii tliey mi >;Iit noini- 
nat? thems^'lves. This offt-r tliev declined, but with many t'lanks 
for it ; alleging, as a reason, that th'y did not presuii- to a suffi- 
ciency of knowledge to nominate such as mig'.it be duly qualified 
for so high an eioploy. 

There were also nine of the articles which he acceded to in the 
fullest extent, and for which concession they returned him also 
their humble thank-*. 

With respect to some of the others, he ne;:atived them at once. 
Am )ng these I may n»t ce l!ie thirteenth and sixteenth. Bv the 
thirtcentl) thev requested. " that all lands in the said counties. not 
yet taken up, oiight be disposed of at the oil rpiit of a bushel of 
tvhoat in a Imndrfd. His answ^^r in writinjj was, ' I think this an 
unreasonable article, either t » limit me in that which is my own, 
or to deprive me of thp benefit o' raiding in proportion to the ad- 
vantage which time gives to other men's properties ; and the rath- 
er because I am yet in di'«'!>urse foi- that lonu; and expensive con- 
troversy with the L M'd Baltimore, prom se.l to ' e defrayed by the 
public a** appears by the Min Ues in Council.' By the sixtecntii 
the' i-eriuested, that all the Bav-marshes be laid out in common, 
except s ich as wei-e already u;ranted. ' This,' says he in his an- 
swer, ' r take fo'- a hi!,';h imposition : however, I am willing that 
they all lie in c )mm'»n and f'-t^e until otlierwise disposed of, and 
shall grant the s ime f om time to time in reasonable portions, and 
upon reasonable te:ms. especially tosucli as shall engage to drain 
and improve the same, having always a reuard to back inhabitants 
for their accommodation ' " 

There were other artich's in the Addre^is, paitioularly the 
eighth and ninth relative to land contiguous ti» Philadelphia, wjiicli 
verv much hurt his feelinsrs on perusing tliem. It struck him, as 
if it might be implipd from these, that be had not performed si)me 
of t'le promises be had marie them : and he thought at the same 
time, that he saw in themselves an unbecoming rapacity to exact 
from him all they could, l;ef<»re he left them. To these there ore 
he aave such answers as before ; but besides this, at a conference 
he held with them in the Council -chamber, he signified to them 
*' that in his speech on the opening of the Session he had recom- 
mended to them to consider their privileges as well as property, 
in which he had justly given privi'ef^ps flip nrpcpclenry of property, 
as ^hp bulwark to secure the ot er : but thev in their present Ad. 
dr'^ss insi«;ted not only on property alone, but upon such particu- 
lars ;is could by nn mecjis be cognizable by nn tiissembly, and lay 
only between him arid the imrlicu.ars concerned ; in which he had 



O?' WILLIAM PENN^ 9^ 

'done, and always would do, to the utmost, what became an honest 

man to all tiiose he agreed witli hut he ivoidd wvcr sitffi^r an 

AfiSPinbly to intermeddle ivith his property, lest it should be drawn 
into a precdef nt, if it should please God a Governor should preside 
here distinct from the Proprietaiy." 

Such then was the feeling of William Penn upon this Address. 
It may be observed, however, as a partial justirtcation ot the As* 
sembly, that there were some things yet undone, which should have 
been, and would liave been, done years acrg, had he not been ab- 
sent from them. It is obvious too, that they were alarmed lest the 
Government should be put into new hands. It was time therefore 
that they should look to their own interests ; and that they should 
obtain the full performance of all tliat had been promised to them. 
They were aware too, that it would be more easy for them to obtain 
from William Peon any atltlitional privileges or grants, than 
from the Government at home, provided he was obliged to sell his 
authority and power. And here it was that the Assembly wounded 
his feelings : for, by going too far, they furnished the app-arance 
of rapacity in themselves, as well as of claim without a right; and 
this error produced a shyness in some degree between them, which 
■was discernible in the proceedings of the Session. It is much how- 
ever to the honour of William Penn, that he did not allow his feel* 
ings to operate eventually to their prejudice. Satisfied with hav- 
ing expressed his disapprobation of their canduct, he resumed his 
wonted benevolence, and therefore relaxed and modified, even in 
the offensive articles, so as to settle matters ultimately to the gen- 
eral satisfaction. 

On the seventh of October, while the Assembly were sitting, 
several tribes of Indians came down to Philadelphia. The report 
that William Penn was going to England had reached their 
country, and they came to take leave of him, as of their great 
benefactor. He received them in Council. The interview is said 
to have been very interesting. Unfortunately, however, but few 
particulars have come down to us. We have only the following 
short account : 

" William Penn told them, that the Assembly was then enact- 
ing a law. according to their (the Indians') desire, to prevent their 
being abused bv the selling of rum among them ; and that he re- 
quested them (the Indians) to unite all their endeavours and their 
utmost exertion, in conjunction with those of the Government, t» 
put the said law in execution " 

At the same time he informed them, " that now this was like to 

be his last intei-vifw with them, at least before his return that 

he had alwavs loved and been kind to them, and ever should con«f 
tinue so to be, not through anv politic design, or on account of self- 
interest, but from a most real affection^ and he desired them in 

his absence to cultivate friendship with those whom he should leave 
behind in authority ; as tliey would ahva^'s in some degree con- 

tiue to be so to them, as himself had ever been. Lastly, that he 

had charged the Members of Council, and he then also renewed the 
same charge, that they should in all respects b*^ kind to them, and 



9& MEMOIRS OF THE LITE 

entertain them with all courtesy and demonstrationis of good willy 
as himself had ever done." Here the members promised faithfully 
to observe the chari^e. Presents were then made to the Indians^ 
who soon afterwards withdrew. 

While the Assembly were proceeding in the business oftheda}^, 
disagreements broke out again between t!)e members of the Terri- 
ries and those of the Province. The question being put," wheth- 
er the Bill for the confirmation of laws should pass into a law with 
such amendments as might be thought needful .^" most of the i'er- 
ritory members rose up and left the House, declaring their inten- 
tion of returning home. It appears, that they had been (!esirous 
of obtaining som^ exclusive rights for their (.'onstituents : and that, 
unable to carry their point, tliey had taken tliis su^ldfu stop. In 
this inpleasant situation, ^V'iIlialn Penn judged it right to request 
a conference with them. This took place in the Council-chamber, 
where he received them apart from the rest of the Assembly. Dur- 
ing its continuance he heard all their complaints and weighed their 
objections; hut he found these, aftor a patient investigation, so 
groundless, that he could not help tellins; tl^em, that " he took this 
their conduct very unkind even to himself in particular." Thej 
replied, that they had a great regard and even aifection for 
him. They had not the most distant intention of offending him ; 
but it became tliem to he true to those whom they represented. 

The conference having thus proved ineftectual, he called the 
Council together, and sent for the whole Assembly, resolving to 
make another effort for peace. It appears that all the members 
attended him. as well the seceders as those for tlie Province. He 
then told them, '* that his time being short, he must come brieflv to 
the point ; that it was no small wound to him to think, that at the 
earnest desire of the Territories as well as the good will of the 
Province, h** had engaged i" ai. undertaking, which cost him be- 
tween two and three thousand pounds, to unite them ; and yet that 
they should now endanger that union, and divide, after they had 
been recognised as one, not only by the King's Commission to 
Governor Fletcher, but also by the King's letters patent for his owa 
restoration, and the Kinq;*s several letters to the Government.— —< 
He therefore would not have any t'ling; resolved on, hut what was 
considerate and weii!;hty, lest it should look as unkind, and now, at 
his departure, make him carry a very ill report of them to Eng- 
land." The Territory members said in reply to this. " that they 
were great sufferers by the Act of Union, however it was at first 
intended, and that thev could not support the burthen of the charge." 
The Governor replied, '•' they were free to break off. and might act 
distinctly by themselves." At this they seemed pleased, and in- 
deed expressed their satisfaction : "But then," c<mtinued he," it 

inust be upon amicable terms and a good understanding." He 

then impressed it upon them, " that they must first rescdve to set- 
tle the Laws ; and that, as the interest of the Province and that of 
the Territories would l)e the same, they should both use a conduct 
consistent with that relation." 

On the fifteenth of October the seceding members returned to 
the Assembly, but still remained dissatisfied. They declared to 



OF WILLIAM PENm 87 

^\e House, " they were vvillin<;to join with the vest ot the members, 
proviiied tliey miL;ht have liberty to enter their dissent to the Bill 
for the confirmation of" Laws, and that nothing might be carried 
over their hea<ls by over-votingtheni ;"and declared further,'* tiiey 
were willing to do any thing for the good and tranquility of the 
Government." After this they VAithdrew. Being called into the 
House again, they were told ''they should have liberty to enter 
their dissent, provided tiiey kept to the matter; but as for the 
House t<! prom.se not to over-vote tlieni,it was a thing so iniprac- 
ticahle, aiH! such an inftingement of the privileges of Assemblies, 
that tiiev could not yield to that." In this situation both parties 
cont nuetl. when the Governor directed the follov/ing letter to the 
Speaker, with a request that it might be communicated to the 
whole H(»'ise : 

" Frif.nds, 

" Your unio'i is what T desire, but your peace and accommodats 
ing one anotl er is what I must expect from yon. The reputation 
of it is somethins- : the reality is much more. And I desire you to 
remember and observe what I say : Yield in circumstantials topre- 
servc essentials ; and, beinii safe in one another, you will always 
lie so in esteem uith me. Make me not sad when I am going to 
leave you, since it is for you, as well as Tor 

" Youp Friend and Governor, 

" William Penn." 

Tliis letter bad the effect of producing a reconciliation between, 
the parties concerned ; and the Governor promising further, that 
he would make a provision in the Charter for a conditional sepa- 
ration from each other, if they chose it. witliin the space of three 
years, they continued to act in harmony for the remainder of the 
Session. 

By this time the Assembly had finished the greater part of the 
business which had been submitted to their consideration, particu- 
larly in the department of the Laws. The following is a list of 
those which they bad finally passed, and in the order in which they 
"were severally confirmed: An Act for l^iberty of Conscience — 
against Riots and Rioters — A^dultery and Fornication — Rape- 
Incest and Bestiality — ^Bigamy — Robbing and Stealing — taking 
away Canoes and Boats — .breaking into Houses — firing of Houses 
—forcible Entry — Menacing, Assault, and Battery — Murder — ■ 
Sedition, the spreading false News, and Def:!T>p*tion'— removing 
Landmarks — deficing Charters — for County Seals, and against 
counterfeiting Hands and Seals — for regulating the Interest of 
Money — for Frivilejies of a Freeman—against buying Land of the 
Natives — for punishing petty Offences — for the Names of the Days 
and Months of the Year — for the better Provision of the Poor 
within the Province and Territories — for recording of Deeds — for 
preventing clandestine Marriages — ^for binding to the Peace — for 
limiting Presentments of the Grand Jury — for ascertaining the 
Number of Members of Assembly, and regulating' Elections — about 
Attachments — for Naturalization — .for ascertaining the Descentof 
Lands and the better Disposition of the Estates of Persons intes- 



JS SIEMOlR* OF THK LirE 

tate— for raising County Levies — 'for Directing the \ttests of sun- 
dry Officers and Ministers, with Anientiments about Attorneys' 
T'ees — for the better Attendance of the Justices vvitliin the Fr-v- 
Ince and Territories — against Jurors absenting, when lawfully 
summoned' — on determining Debts under Foity Shillings — to pre- 
vent immoderate Fines — about Defalcation' — against speaking in 
Derogation of Courts — for the appraisement of Goods — against 
Barrators — to oblige Witnesses to give Evidence, and to prevent 
False-swearing — for the Confirmation of l>evises of Land.^and Va» 
lidity of nuncupative Wills — to prevent the grievous Sins ol Curs- 
ing and Swearing — to prevent Duelling^ — to empower Widowsaiid 
Administrators to sell so much of the Lands of Intestates as may 
he sufficient to clear their Debts — for the Preservation of tlie Per- 
son of the Proprietary and Governor — for takins Lands in Execu- 
tion where the Sheritts cannot come at other Effects to satisfy the 
same— for the better regulating of Servants — for erecting and os- 
tablishinga Post-office — for the Assize of Bread — for Priority of 
Payments to the Inhabitants of tb.is Government — tor regulating 
of Streets and Water-courses in the Cities and i'ovvns — to prevent 
Accidents which may happen by Fire in the Towns of Bristol, 
Philadelphia, Germantown. Derby. Chester, Newcastle, and Lew- 
is, with tlie words •' Hooks provided" — to enijiower Justices to lay 
out and confirm all Roads, except the King's Highways — for regu- 
lating and maintaining Fences — for erecting Bridges and main- 
taining Highways — against Weirs across Creeks and Rivers — 
against unseasonable Firing of Woods — for erecting and regulat- 
ing the Prices of Ferries — for the Trial of Negroes— to prevent 
sickly Vessels coming into this Govprnment — for the SittinsiS of 
Orphan's Courts — for requiring all Masters of Vessels to iisake re- 
port at the Town of Newcastle — for levying of Fines — about De- 
partures out of the Province^ — -against mixing and adulterating 
strong Liquors — against Scolding — about killing of \\ olves — con- 
cerning Bills of Exchange — for regulating Money Weights and for 
Stamping the same — for appointing the Rate of Money or Coin^ 
and for preventing the Clipping of the same — for regulating 
Weights and Measures — to prevent the Sale of ill-tanned Leather, 
and working t'.c same into Shoes and Boots— for keeping a Regis- 
ter in religious Societies—for viewing of Pipe Staves — 'against 
Iceepins Inns or Public-houses without License—for the Dimen- 
sions of Casks, 'IBid true Packin<>: of Meat — about cutting Timber 
Trees — arainst Drunkenness and drinking Healths — ^for bailing- 
Prisoners and about Imprisonment — against Pirates and Sea Rob- 
bers — for granting an Impost on Wine. Rum, and Beer — for rais- 
ing One Penny per Pound and Six Shillings per Head for the Sup- 
port of Government — for raising and granting to the Proprietary 
and Governor the Sum of Two Thousand Pounds upon the clear 
Value of all real and personal Estates, and upon the Polls of all 
Freemen within the Province and Territories — for efltectually es- 
tablishing and confirming the Freeholders of the same, their Heirs 
and Assigns, in their Lands and Tenements — 'for erecting a Bridge 
at Chester — for Country Produce io be current Payment — against 



or WTLLIAM JENN, 99 

sellino; Rum to the Indians. After these some other Laws were 

passeil by the Assembly, making up, with those who&e titles have 
been recited, the number of one hundred. 

With respect to the new Charter or Frame of Government, up- 
on which so much attention had been bestowed by a Committee of 
the Assembly, it was produced, read, and approved. It agreed with 
tiiat of 696 in the fdllowing particulars: Each County was to 
send ti-,ur Members to the Assembly, but this number might be en- 
larged af ervvanisas circumstances miglit require. — I he Assembly 
also were allowed to propose Uills, to appoint Committees, ;ind to 
sit upon their own A< journments. Among tlie new articles it con- 
tained I may notice, first. That if persons through temptation or 
melancholy should destroy themselves, tleir est^ites were not to be 
forfeited, but to descend to their uives and children and relations, 
as if they had died a natural death ; and. seconc'ly, That in case 
the Representatives of the Province and those of the Territories 
should not hereafter agree t(» join togetier in Legislatifin, ifreT 
■were allowed, by proper sign fication of the same, to separate with- 
in three years from tlie date of the Charter ; but they v. ere to en- 
joy the same privileges when separated as when connected. 

The Assembly having finished the business hefor' them, William 
Penn on the twenty -eighth of ('ctober signed t' e above Charter in 
tl\eCouncil-cl amber in the midst of the Council and Assembly, both 
of whom united in returning him thanks, as appears by the follow- 
ing document : 

"• This Charter of Privileges having been distinctly read in As- 
sembly, and the whole and every part thereof having been approv- 
ed and agreed to b\- us, v\e do thankfully receive the same from 
our Proprietary and Governor, this twenty -eighth day of October, 

iroi." 

Signed by Edward Shippen, Thomas Story, and others of the 
Governor's Council ; 

And by Joseph Growdon, on behalf and by order of the Assem- 
bly. 

On the same day he appointed by Letters Patent under the 
Great Seal a Council of State, consisting of Kd^aid Sltj pen, 
Thomas Story, and eight other persons, for the Government ot the 
Province and Territories, to assist him or his Lieutenant with 
their advice in public affairs : and to exercise, in his own absence 
or in case of the death or incapacity of his Lieutenant, the powers 
of Government for the same. 

On the twenty-ninth, the ship wliich was to carry him to Enjj;, 
land being ready to sail, he convened the nhabitants of Pliiiadel- 
phia. in order to leave with them a particular memoiial of his good- 
will towards them. He presented them with a Charter of Fiivi- 
leges. by which Philadelphia was constituted a City, and incoipo- 
rated. The Corporation was to consist of a Ma\or. Alderman, nnd 
Common Council-men, a Reconlor, Slieriff.Town Clerk, and other 
Officers, and to have the Title of tlie Mayor and Commnnalty of 
Philadeiphia. This Charter he Itad prepared ;nid signed on the 
tvv'enty-fifth, and lie hai' taken care to appoint all those whom he 
most approved of to ihe different stations belonging to it. Thus 



iOO MEMOIRS OF THE LIFB 

he appointed Edward Shippen the first Mayor, and Thomas Sto*-, 
ry the first Recorder ; all of whom he saw in their respective offi- 
ces before he departed. 

On the thirtieth he appointed Andrew Hnmilton, who had been 
some time Governor both of East and West Jersey, as liis Deputy 
Governor ; and having put !iim into his place, and introduced, 
him to the Council, he embarked the next day with bib wife and 
family, after having staid in Pennsylvania about two years ; dur- 
ing which, according to the account of his Life, written by Besse, 
prefixed to the Collection of his Works, " he had applied himself 
to the offices of Government, always preferiing t e good of the 
Country and its inhabitants to his own private interest, rather re- 
mitting than rigourously exacting his lawful revenues, so that un^ 
der the influence of his paternal administration he !eit the Prov- 
ince in an easy and flourishing condition." It ap|;ears that he 
was oidy about six weeks on his passage, and that he arrived at 
Portsmouth about the middle of December. 



CHAPTER XV. 



A. l!r02-3 — carries up the Mdress of the Quakers to ^ueen ^mk^— «- 
writes " Considerations upon the fiill against occasional Con- 
formity^^ — also " More Fruits of Solitude^'' — also a Fn-fnce to 
*' Vindicioe Veritatis^'''—-and another to " Zion's Travellers 
comforted''^ — affairs of Pennsylvania. 

The facts related of William Penn become now so very scanty, 
that I shall be obliged from this time to throw two or three years 
©f his life into one chapter. 

He had not been long in England before he found that the Bill 
■which was to turn the North American into Regal Governments 
had been entirely dropped, so that he l^ad crossed the Atlantic for 
nothing. It was however a consolation to him to know, tliat the 
evil on account of which he had come to England, aud the removal 
of vvhicli was likely to have cost him much anxiety, pain, and 
trouble, had been removed. 

Not long after this, King William died, and Queen Anne suc- 
ceeded him, William Penn was in great favour with this princess, 
and occasionallv attended her Court. She received him always in 
a friend l}"^ manner, and was pleased with his conversation on 
American concerns. He was employed also in carrying up to her 
an Address from the Quakers, to thank her for her declaration that 
she would maintain the Act of Toleration in favour of Dissenters. 
The Queen spoke to him very kindly on this occasion, and, having 
read the Address, added, "Mr. Penn ! I am so well pleased that 
what I have said is to your satisfaction, that you and your Friends 
may be assured of my protection." 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 101 

At this time he and his family were in lodgings at Kensington. 
Here he wrote a little tract, contained in a slieet of paper, called 
" Considerations upon the Bill against occasional Conforniitv," 
which Rill had then been introiluced into the House of Commons. 

He wrote also •' More Fruits of Solitude." This was a second 
part to •• vSome Fruits of Solitude, iu Reflections and Maxims re- 
lating to the Conduct of human Life," published in 1683. The 
reflections and maxims in both parts amounted to eight hundred 
and filtv. 

He removed from Kensington to Knightibridge the next year. 
Wliile at the latter place, he wrote two interesting prefaces to two 
books The first of these was '• Vindiciee Veritatis ; or, An occa- 
sional Defence of the Principles and Practices of the People called 
Quakers; in Answer to a Treatise by John Stillinsfleet, a Clergy- 
man in Ijinc dnshire, miscalled Seasonable Advice against Quaker- 
ism." The other was a collection of Charles Marshall's writings, 
called " Zion's Travellers comfoi ted." 

Witli respect to America, be received no intelligence from 
thence but what was distressing. It appears that Governor Ham-^ 
ilton had summoned the Assembly, and that tlie members for the 
Territories had come down to Philadelphia in consequence, and 
had met him in the Council-chamber ; but that they had refused to 
meet in Assembly, or to act in legislation with tliose for the Prov- 
ince. They ohjected to the last Charter. William Penn, they 
said, had signed this at a Board of Council and not in Assembly, 
for the Assembly had been dissolved the day before. The Charter 
therefore was not binding upon them, for they were then no House. 
Besides, the members for the Province had been elected by writs, 
which were conformable in point of time with the said Charter ; 
but thev themselves had been elected not till some time after. 
They could not therefore sit in Assembly with the former; for by 
so doing they would acknowledge the said Charter, the writs upon 
which the said members were elected being grounded upon it. 

The Governor made a reply to them ; but his arguments, forci- 
ble as they were, did not avail. In the course however of five or 
six weeks he succeeded in bringing them and the members for the 
Province together, but it was in the Council-chamber only : and 
here the communication which he had to make to them was not 
likely to conciliate either of them ; for he revived the old subject 
of fear of invasion, and propo*;ed at the instigation of Lord Corn- 
bury, then Governor of New-York, a junction with his province to 
fortifv tlie frontier of Albany, and recommended also the raising of 
a militia among them. The result was, that both parties with one 
accord declined acting together in their legislative capacity. 
"They humbly craved leave to infor'^i the Governor, that they 
could find no method to form themselves into an Assembly, the 
same stops and objections lying in the way as before." 

Twice after this the Governor brought them together, but with 
no better success ; M'hen he dismissed them, hoping that by send- 
ing an account of their proceedings to Enaland some expedient 
might be devised by William Penn, which might lead to their union. 
This however was but a vain hope ; for when they parted on their 



108 MBIffOIRS OP THE LITE 

dismissal they parted for ever in It-gislation, the Territory mem" 
bers determining; to hold a separate Assembly witliin their owft 
borders. 

The members for the Province, bein;^ now left to themselves, 
addressed the Governor, requestiaj^that, according to the Charter, 
by which a provision had been matie, in case of the separatioa 
which had taken place, they mi;;ht hold an Assembly by the addi- 
tion of four nieiubers for each county and two for Philadelphia, 
which was now incorporated. Tnis the Governor sign lied his in- 
tention to comply with : but in the interim he died. 
. On the death of Governor Hamilton, the '.ioveinment of the 
Province and Territories devolvt^d upon Edward Shippen, who was 
President of the Council. He summoned the Assembly for the 
Province in October. Thev met acordingly, and performed the 
business of the Session . immediately after which a dispute arose 
between them and the Governor and Council ; for, when the latter 
proposed to confer with the Assemblv about a proper time to m«^et 
again, the Assembly assumed the power of adjourning wholly to 
themselves ; and when an objection was made to this extent of 
their claim of sitting wholly upon their own adjournments, they 
immediately adj )urned themselves to the first of May next, with- 
out giving Gavernor or Council any further time to confer with 
them on the subject. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Ji. 1704-5-6-7-8 — writes a preface to " Ths written frospel-La- 
bours of John fFhitehead^'' — travels as a minister info the Ifpsh 
of Kiigl'tnd — writfS a General Letter to the Society — is involv' 
ed in a law-snit with th^ ^Cxecutors of his Sftewan! — obtains no 
redress in Chancery — obliged in consequence to live within the 
Rules of the Fleet — affairs of Pennsylvania. 

In the year 1704 we know very little of William Penn, only 
that he continued to reside at Knightsbridge, and that, while 
there, he wrote, a Preface to " The written Gospel-Labours of 
John Whitehead." 

In 1705 he travelled as a minister to the western parts of the 
kingdoMi. It is said that during his journey " he had good ser- 
vice, and that his testimony was effectual to the reformation of 
many." Soon after this he wrote the following short letter, which 
he addressed to the Quakers generally • " Hold all your meetings 
in that which set them up, the heavenly power of God, both minis- 
ters and hearers, and live under it and not above it, and the LoriL 
will give you dominion over that which seeks to draw you again 
into captivity to the spirit of this world under divers appearances, 
that the Truth may shine through you in righteousness and holi- 



OF WILLIAM PEWN. JOS 

ness, in self-denial, long;-sufiering, pafience, and brotherly kind- 
ness : so slidll you approve yourselves tiie redeemed of the Lord, 
and liis living w itnesses in and to an evil generation. 80 prays 
your Filend and Brother through the many tribulations that lead 
to the kingdom of God. 

In 1706, he removed v/ith his family to a house near Brentford, 
"where he continm d for some time. 

In 1707 he was un!iappily involved in a law-suit with the execu- 
tors of one Ford, who had been formerly his steward. He con» 
sidered the demands of tiuse to be so unreasonable, as to feel 
himself hound by justice to resist them. 

In t'e course of 1708 his cause was determined : but '* though 
many fhought him aggrieved, it was attended, it is said, by siicli 
circumstances, that t e Court of Cliancery did not think it proper 
to relieve him." This issue must have been verv distressing to 
him, not <»nly because it was entirely unexpected, but because a 
man of his delicate feelings must have supposed that his character 
would suffer in consequence i»f it. But, besides, he was under the 
painful necessity of dwelling witliin the Rules of the F'.eet* till 
such time as the pecuniary part of the matter couKl be settled. 

As to his American affairs, it appears that he had appointed 
John Evins, Deputy Governor, with the Queen's approbation, oa 
the death of Vndrew Hamilton. It was the first effort of KvanS 
to trv to make up the differences between the members for the 
Territories and those for the Province. He succeeded ir) bring* 
ing them once more to^^ether.and the speech he made to them was 
such as to dispose the meml-ers for the Territories towards a re.- 
U"ion ; but those for the Province, who had so long witnessed the 
refractory behavio'ir of tlie latter, refused all fuit'ier connection 
with them. The consequence was. that thev parted finally. 

Having thus filled in his attempt at negociation, he convened 
the Assembly of the Province, with which he transacted the pub- 
lic business as a distinct body, and after this the Assembly of the 
Territories, which he met at Newcastle, distinct in like manner, 
for the management of the Territory concerns. 

By this time he had become unpopular with the members for the 
Province. He had refused to pass three Bills, relating to the 
Charter and to Property, without certain Amendments ; and he 
had published a Proclamation to raise a militia among those whose 
religious scruples did not hinder them from bearino; arms. This 
unpopularity became at length so great, that they diew up a pri- 
vate Remonstrance against him, and sent it to England to William 
Penn ; in which, it is said, they reflected upon William Penn him- 
self, and also upon James Logan, who was the public Secretary to 
the Government. 

Early in 1705 Governor Evans convened the same Assembly. 
In his address to them he stated how much the Proprietary had 

• It is prob;iWe tliat from this circumstance Edmui'tl Burke, in his " Account 
of the European Settlements in America." derived the mistaken notion that WH- 
Ram Penn died in the Fleet prison. 
14 



104 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

been grieved with the Remonstrance he had received. " Gentle- 
men," says he, " the Proprietary is so far from agreeing with 
your opinion in these matters, tliat he is <;reatiy surprised to seey 
instea-.l of suitable supplies for the maintenance of Government, 
and defraying public charges for the public safety, time only -ost 
{while his constant expences run on) in disputes upon heads 
which he had as fully settled before his departure as the best pre- 
jcautions could enable him. 

" The Proprietary also further assur s us. that had the three 
Bills been passed into Acts here without the Amendments, they 
would certainly have been vacated by Her Majesty, being looked 
on by men of skill, to whom they were shown, as great ab- 
surdities. 

" If the Remonstrance was the act of the people trulv repre- 
sented, then it was the Proprietary's opinion, that such a proceed- 
in<; was suflFicieDt to cancel all obligations of care over them : but 
if done by particular persons only, and it was an imposture in the 
name of the whole, he exijected t!'e Country would purge them- 
selves, and take care that due satisfaction was sjiven him." 

He added, '• that the Proprietary (;c/<v, it was well /inoitm^ had 
hifh?<tu supported this Goi'etninenf) had been frequently solicited, 
upon the treatmpnt he had met with, to resign and throw up all 
without anv further care : but his tenderness to those in the place, 
whom he knew to he still true and honest, prevailed with him to 
give the peonle vet an opportunity of showing what they would do 
before all was brought to a closing period ; but that he would be 
justified by all reasonable men for withdrawing the exercise of 
his care over those who, being so often invited to it, took so little 
of themselves." 

Soon after this. Governor Evans, not being able to make an im- 
pression upon tlie Assembly, dissolved it. and at the time fixed by 
Chartt^r he called a new one. During the sittings of the latter there 
was a better understanding on both sides, and several Laws were 
passed • but before the end of the year he became obnoxious to sev- 
eral of the most respectable of its members ; for he had joined with 
the Assembly for the Territories in some acts which seemed to 
have been rather levelled ajrainst the interest of the Province than 
to answer any good end. He had treated too, the religious scru- 
ples of tlie Quakers against war as groundless and absurd ; and he 
had exhibited as a man, a looseness and levity of character which 
was disgusting to a serious-minded people. 

In the year 1700 Governor Evans completed his unpopularity by 
two extraordinary acts. In order to succeed in his project of a 
militia he ere ted a false alarm. It was contrived that a messen- 
ger should be sent to him from Newcastle to Philadelphia, at the 
time of the Fair, to inform him that a number of vessels were then 
actually in the river fo'- the purpose of invasion. Upon this news 
Evans acted bis part. He sent his emissaries to spread consterna- 
tion through the city, while he himself with a drawn sword rode 
through the streets in apparently great agitation of mind, and en- 
treated and commanded by turns persons of all ranks to assist him 



OF WILtlAM PKNN« 105 

in this emergency. The plot, having been thus executed, operat- 
ed difteiei.tiv upon different people. Some fled; others buried 
their property ; and otiiers took up arms. Among the latter were 
on y tour Quakers. ISuoii after tiiis the imposition was discover- 
ed ; and the consequence was, that he lost the good opinion of the 
Quakers and of man v others from that day. 

The other transuCtiou was as follows: The Assembly for the 
Territories liad passed a Law, on the suggestion of Evans, for the 
building of a Fort at Newcastle ; and they had enacted also, that 
all vessels coming Irom sea up the Delaware should pay a certain 
tax ; and that ail masters of vessels, whether going up or down the 
River, should drop anchor at the Fort, and report their vessels, and 
get leave to pass, under a penalty ot fi\e pounds and so much for 
every shot fired at them in case of neglect. This law made him 
unpopular tliroughout the Province, ihe people there considered 
it as an infraction of tiie Royal Charter, which gave them a right 
to the free use of the River and Bay without obstruction from any 
quarter whatever ; and they were determined to resist it. Accord- 
ingly, after the Foit had beenhuilt and the exactions paid by many, 
three Quakers, Richard Hill who was one of the Council, and 
Isaac Norris and Sainuel Preston, men of tlie firststation and char- 
acter, went on board a sloop belonging to Hdl, and sailed down 
the River, and dropt anchor a little before they came to the Fort. 
Norris and Preston then landed to inform the Officers in it, that 
the vessel had been regularly cleared ; after which they returned 
to her. When they <iot on board. Hill took the command of the 
sloop, stood to the helm and passed the Fort, and this without re- 
ceiving any <Iamage, thouj:;h a constant firing was kept up, and 
though the guns were pointed in such a direction that a shot went 
throujih tiie mainsail. As soon as tlie sloop was clear of the Fort, 
John Frencli the commander of it, put oftin a boat, manned and 
armed, to bring her to. When he came alongside. Hill ordered a 
rope to be thrown to him ; upon whicli he fasten .d the boat, and 
then M'ent on hoaid. Upon this Hill cut the rope, and the boat fall- 
ing astern, he conducted French a prisoner to the cabin, and sailed 
awav with him to Lord Cornburv, whohappened then tohe at Salem, 
a little lower down on the .lersey side of the river. Lord Corn- 
bury, having reprimanded French, dismissed hirn. Soon after this, 
Hill, accompanied by a large number of the inhabitants of Phila- 
delphia, attended the General Assembly, and laid a Petition be- 
fore them. The consequence was, that the Assembly presented 
an Address to the Governor, in which they reprobated the Law in 
question without one dissentins; voice, and this in so strong a man- 
ner that no proceedings of tiie like nature were continued. 

These transactions together made such a rupture between Evang 
and the Assembly, that there was nothing but jarring between thetn 
afterwards ; so tliat when Evans sent to the Assemblv tl;e draught 
of a Bill, which he supposed necessary, the Assembly immediate- 
ly rejected it ; and when the Assemblv propose<l another in its 
stead, Evans rejected it in his turn, remarking thatitbrokein upon 
the Proprietary's powers of Government, and his just interests 
and rights. 



166 9fEM0IRS OF THE LIFE 

This opposition of the Governor to the Bill of the Assembly, and 
his remarks iipon it, very much displeased them ; and, as il tliey 
had sometliing to let out by way of revenge, but no one to vent 
it upon, thev brought aiiain^t Jaines Logan, one of the Councd and 
the public Secretary of tlie Government, a number of accusations, 
whictt th-y style<l articles of impeachment : but here they were 
foiletl ; for tiirough Kvans's management, and liis protection of Lo- 
gan, they were not able to ettVct any thing against the latter either 
bj wav of censure or removal from office 

Having been novv twice worsted, they drew up in 1707 a Re- 
monstrance a second time, against Governor Evans, and sent it to 
William Penn. it was a sort of catalogue of the paiticulars of his 
Bi d-adniinistration. which included the false alarm, the story of 
the sloop and the Fort as before mentioned, and twelve other 
charges. 

On the first of October, the day of election according to the 
Charter, the choice falling upon most of the old members, tjierft 
was the same want of cordiality, or rather the same discord, be- 
tween the parties as before ; so that very little was done in that 
session. 

fn the beginning of 1708, William Penn, having received the 
second remonstrance of the Assembly against Governor Evans, 
also letters from the latter in his own vindication, as well as seve- 
ral from others, who took their respective sides as they felt them- 
selves influenced by facts and circumstances, took the case into 
his most serious consideration, with a determination to do justice 
to all parties, and at the same time to consult the true interest and 
welfare of the Province. The result was, t'vit he found himself un- 
der the necessity of recalling Governor Evans. Accordingly a 
letter was dispatched to him to this effect. It reached him in due 
time at Philadelphia, and he left his Deputy Government ia con- 
sequence in the same year. 



OV WILLIAM PENN; ICf 



CHAPTER XVII. 



JS. irOD- 10-11 '12 — isobli^^ed to mortgage his Frovlnce — causes of 
this obUgatian — travels a^uin in the ministry — writi^s a t rff/ice 
to the •• inscoiirsps ut Bulstiode H hitelocke''^ — constitution />e- 
ginsto break— --1 emoves to liuahcomb in herkshiie—uctfTmineS 
vpon parting with his Province — but is px-vented bij idni's:-.—* 
writes a Preface to the '• Works of John Banks^'—has three apo- 
plectic fits — ujuirs of Fennsylvania. 

In 1709 William Penn submitted to a painful act for the s^ike of 
justice. His pecuniarv emiiarrassnii-nts vvoie such as to olilige 
hiiii to mortguj^e liis Province of Fenii&viv..nia for 6,600/. 'ihe 
money was advanced him by liis friends, but principally by those 
who were of bis own religious Society. 

One of the most remote causes of his embarrassment, indeed the 
great and continually operating one, was the exrenditure o( moner 
for the good of ti.e Pi ovince, without those pecuniary returns to 
wliich he was entitled. Oldniixon, who was coteniporary with him, 
and wh(» published his "* Account of tl.e Biitisli I nipire in Ameri- 
ca" only tlie preceding year, speaks on the sidject litis : '-We 
shall not enter into any enquiries into the causes of the trouble 
that has het^n given Mr. Penn lately about the i rovir ce of F*enn- 
sylvania : it appears to us, by what we have heard of if fiom oth- 
ers, for from himself we have never h.id any infosmatit^n concern- 
ing it, that he has been involve<l in it hv his bounty Tt- the Indians, 
b'S generosity in minding the public aftaijsof the Colon v more than 
Ids own private ones, his h.umanity to tliose who have not made 
suitabU returns, bis confidence in those who have betrayed him, 
and the ri<iour of t!ie severest equitv. a word th.t borders the near- 
est to injustice of any. '1 is cei tainly the dutv of tl is Cvdoiiy to 
maintain the Proprietary, who I as laid out his all fcr the mainte- 
nance of them, in the possession of his Territory ; anti public giat- 
itude oi'g'it to make good what tl ey reap the benrfit of. 'i his is all 
said out of justice toth.e merit of this j^^^eiitleman.otherwiMMt V; ould 
have been without his consent " Put thou<;!i this was the i'lv^t and 
great cause; yet that which added to it. and brought on the pres- 
ent distress, was the unexpected demaisd of tie executors of his 
steward Ford, and the issue of the suit in Chancery as btfore men- 
tioned. It appears, from the best information I have been abb to 
collect on this subject, that ^^'illialn Penn had behaved to Ford 
during his lifetime with great kindness and liberality ; and that, 
not suspecting one whom he had b. th so eminentlv trusted and 
served, he had incautiouslv and v\ithout due insrection put his 
hand to papers, as mere matters of course, which bis steward bad 
laid before him to sign. Hence t' e law could give him no relief. 
But whatever was the history of the transaction, the steward lost 
his reputation by it. James Loiran, who was Secretary to the Gov- 
ernment of Pennsylvania, and who knew the wh(»le of the case, 
and who had occasion to allude t" it in a manuscript found after 
his death, stigmatises the act by " the fraud and treachery of his 



108 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

steward," and in the same language it was generally spoken of at 
the time. 

Having raised the money, and thereby removed some of his diffi- 
culties, lie travelled as a minister of the Gospel to the West of 
England, and visited also in the same capacity the counties of 
jBerks, Buckingham, and Surrv, and other places. He wrote this 
year '• Some Account of the Lifeand Wiitin;;sof Bulstrode White- 
locke, Ksq. prefixed to his Memorials of Englisli Affairs totiieRnd 
of the Keign of King James the First, novv published from his orig- 
inal Manuscript." William Fenn had for many years been ac- 
quainted with this great and venerable person. 

In this year we first hear of the failure of his constitution. It is 
noticed by Besse, the author of tlie first History of his Life, who 
says that the infirmities of old age began to visit him, and to lessen 
his wonted powers, it is noticed also by Oldmixon, in his second 
edition of his account of the British Empire in America, who speaks 
thus : " The troubles tliat befel Mr. Penn in the latter part of his 
life are of a nature too private to have a plitc^^ in a public history. 
He trusted an ungrateful, unjust agent too much with the manage- 
ment of it ; and, when he expected to have been thousands of 
pounds the better for it. found himself thousands of poundsin debt; 
insomuch that he was restrained of his libeity within the privilege 
of the Fleet, by a tedious and unsuccessful law-suit ; which, togeth- 
er with age, broke liis spirits not easy to he bioken, and rendered 
him incapable of business and society as he was wont to have been 
in the days of his health and vigour both of body and mind." 

This intelligence respecting his health, tliough it bursts thus 
suddenly upon us. ought not to surprise us. It is not wonderful, 
that symptoms of decline should have begun to show themselves 
in his constitution, at the age of sixty-seven, and more particular- 
ly when we consider the distressing scenes he experienced in this 
and the preceding year. In the former year he had to contrast 
his own unsuspicious and generous conduct with the treachery of 
his steward. He had to lament the failure of his suit in Chance- 
ry, both as it embarrassed his pecuniary aPikirs, and as it might 
injure his reputation. He had the mortification to see himself a 
prisoner within the limits of the Fleet. He had been afflicted by 
the renewal and continuation of bitter dissentions between the As- 
sembly of Pennsylvania and his Deputy Governor. He had been 
under the painful task of removing the latter; and in the present 
year he had been compelled to mortgage his Province. These 
were causes which could not but have affected him. Religion and 
philosophy have undoubtedly the power of blunting the edge of 
our afflictions, and of making them more bearable ; but they can- 
not alter the law of our mortality, or secure us from that decay to 
which we are liable from our nature. 

For 1710 we have hut a slender account of his proceedings. 
We trace him once at the Prime Minister's, Robert Harley, after- 
ward Earl of Oxford, with whom he was ve\-y intimate, and at 
whose house he then dined : but the air near London not suiting 
his declining cons'titution, he took a handsome seat at Rush- 
comb, near Twiford, in Berkshire, where he resided during the r^- 



OF WILLIAM PENN. tO£> 

mainder of his life. After his removal to this place we find hitn 
at Readins^ Monthly Meeting:;, for he signed among others the testi* 
mony concerning Oliver Sansom tliere. 

In 1711 he went to London for a (ew days. He was seen at 
Whitehall, attended by several of the Society. He had gone in 
company with these to wait upon the Duke of Orniond on his re- 
turn from his Lord Lieutenancy in Ireland, to thank him for his 
kindness towards his fellow-members during his administration 
there. In this year the works of one of his ancitMit Friends, John 
Banks, being ready for the press, he dictated to a person, as he 
walked up and down the room with a cane in his hand, an excel- 
lent Preface to the same, which was the last j)iece he ever publish' 
ed, and which carried with its own evidence, that it could have 
been written by no other than a highly experienced christian. It 
ran thus : 

" Fkiendlt Reader, 
"The labours of the servants of God ought always to be pre- 
cious in the eyes of his people, and for that reason the very 
fragments of their services are not to be lost, but to be gathered up 
for edification ; and that is the cause why we expose the followino* 
Discourses to public view ; and I hope it will please God to make 
them effectual to such as seriously perusi' them, since we have al- 
ways found the Lord ready to second the services of his worthies 
upon the spirits of the readers, not suffering that which is his own 
to go without a voucher in every conscience, I mean those divine 
truths it has pleased him to reveal among his children by his own 
blessed Spirit, without which no man can rightly perceive the 
things of God, or be truly spiritually minded, which is life and 
peace. And this indeed is the only beneficial evidence of heaven- 
ly truths, which made that excellent apostle say in his day, We 
know that we are of God, and that the ivhole world lieth in wick- 
edness : for in that day true Religion and un'iefiled before God 
and the Father consisted in visiting the fjitherless and widows in 
their afflictions, and kei^ping unspotted fiom the world, not only a 
godly tradition of what others have enjoyed, but the experimental 
enjoyment and knowledge thereof, by the operation of the Divine 
Power in their own hearts, which makes up the inward Jew and 
accomplished Christian, whose praise is not of men. hut of God : 
such are Christians of Christ's making, that can say with the apos- 
tle. It is not we that live, but Christ that livt^th in us, dying daily 
to self, and rising up, through faith in the Son of God, to n^-wness 
of life. Here formality bows to reality, memory to feeling, letter 
to spirit, and form to power ; which brings to the regeneration, 
withoHt which no man can inherit the kingdom of God ; and by 
which he is enabled in every estate to cry Abba, Father. Thoa'It 
see a great doal of this in the following author's writings ; and 
that he riy;htly began with a just distinction between true wisdom 
and the fame of wisdom, what was of God and taught of God, and 
of man and taught by man, which at best is a sandy foundation for 
religion to be built upon, or rather the faith and hope of man in 
reference to religion, and salvation by it. And O that none who 
Hiake profession of the dispensation of the Spirit may build beside 



110 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

the work of Jesas Christ in their own souls, in reference to his 
proplietical, priestly, an I kin'^iy offico, in which regard God his 
Father gave him as a tried sto le, elect and precious, to build 
fey .ind upon ; c')..cerning which great and silonous truth we do 
most hunihly hesef ch t!io Almig'ity, w'lo is God of the spirits of all 
ilesh. the Father of Lii;'its and Spirts, to ground and establis'i all 
his visited and convinced on'^s. that tnev mtv grow up an holy 
house and building to the Lor 1 ; so shall purity, peace, and chari- 
ty abound io the house and sanct'iary that he hath jjitched and 
not man. 

" N w as to tliis worthy man, the author of the following: treat- 
ises, I hope f may without o!f«nce sav, his memorial is bli-ssed, 
having knowri '11:0 above forty vpars an heavenly minister of ex- 
pe-i n"'it(i! religion, of a s)und Jnd:;-:nent and pious practice, val- 
iant r,r the truth upon the earth, and ready t > sprve all in tbe love 
and )^ace of t\vi Gospel Ifp was amnigst the first in Cumber- 
land t 'lit received the glad tidings of it. and then readily gave up, 
with itiier brethren, to declare to others vvh t the Lord had done 
for t'l^ir souls. 

" Thus [ first m'»t him : and as I received his testimony through 
the Saviour of lifp. so I was kin:11v accented and encouraged by 
him in the belief of the blessed test'i;noay of the light, snirit, 
grace, and ti"'ith of Christ in th(» invar ! parts, reproving, inslr')ct- 
in;r. n^formin^. and redeeming those souls from the evil of the 
world, tiiat were obedient tlicrennto. Here he was a strength to 
mv soul, in the eTr'y davs of mv convincement, together with bis 
dear ani! faithful friend, irother and fellow-traveller, Jolin Wil- 
kinson of Cumberland, formei-ly a \ery zealous and able Inde- 
pendent minister. 

*' \nd as \ hnpp this piece of labour of our ancient friend and 
brother will find accept:ince every where among God's people, so 
I hone it will he more esoecially acceptable in the North, where 
he began and had his ea'-lv services : and in the West, where they 
were witnesses of his rare to nres^rve good order in tlie church. 

" Now, reader, before I take mv leave of thee, let me advise 
thee to hold thy religion in the Spirit, whether thou prayest, 
praist'st, or ministrest to others ; go forth in t!ie ability God y;iv- 
eth thi^e ; presume not to awaken thy beloved befo-e his time ; 
be not thy own in thy performances, but the Lrrd's : and thou 
shalt not I.o'd the truth in nnrigliteousiiP'S. as too many do. but 
accordina; to the oracle of God. that will never leave nor forsake 
them wlio wi!! take counsel at it : which t'lat all God's people 
may do, is and hath ]nn'x been the earnest desire and fervent sup- 
plication of their and thy faithful Friend in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

" William Penn. 
« London, 2Sf? of the V2th 
month. 1711. 

It appears that he also wrote about this time an Introduction 
(entitled ^n F.plstle to the l^eader) to some Hiscnurses of his 
before-mentioned much valued Friend, Bulstrode Whitelocke. 
which were published this year. 



Wir WILLIAM PENN. Ill 

In tri2he ma^le up his mind to part with kis Province to Gov- 
«rn;iient: for which he asked tne sutn of 20,000/. Queen Anne re- 
ferred I'.is demand totlie Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plan- 
tati )as, who were to report to the Lords Coiniuisisioners of the 
Treasury. An a2;reement was made in consequence for 1 2,000/. j 
but the bad and dangerous state of his healtli iluriiis; this vearpi-e- 
vented t!ie execution of it. lie was seized at distant times wit'i 
three several fits said to be apoplectic, the latter of which was 
80 severe that it was with difficulty t!iat he survived it. It so 
shattered his understanding and memorv, that he was left scarcely 
fit to manage at times the most trifling of his private concerns. 

As to his American affairs, after the recal of RvaVls he appoint- 
ed Charles Gookin his D;^puty Governor, to whom he gave letters 
of introduction to his Friends in Philadelphia, expressi'-e of his 
excellent character. Gookin, it appe'irs, ai-rived there in 1709, 
and while the Assembly were sitting. They presented him almost 
immediately with an Address, in which " tliey congratulatfd his 
seasonable accession to the Government." This Address washow- 
ever extremely injudicious in the latter part of it ; for, instea<l of 
passing over ail subjects connected with former disputes, so that at 
least their first act might breathe the spirit of peace and good will, 
they brought to his notice wiiat they called their old grievances 
with an expectation of redress from him, and this in matters of 
"which it would !iave been but fair to presume he could have known 
nothing, and which it v,as totilly 'ut of his power to remedy. 

This Address produced the effect H Inch it was natural to ex- 
pect from it ; for. first, it offended the Governor at the very outset 
of his public career. It would have proved, he said, a muoh greater 
satisfaction to him, if at this first tinte of his speaking to them he 
had had nothing to take notice of but what he himself might have 
had to lav before them. The Council too took umbrage at the Ad- 
dress on account of expressions in it, whicli they supposed the As- 
sembly had levelled against them, particularly the wcu-ds '• evil 
counsel:'' and they complained to the Governor accordingly; 
They of all others, they said, least merited tliis reproaclt, who had 
served the State with thi'ir best advice for years, witlwui ever hav- 
ing received salary, or allowavce, or office of proft af aivj kind. 
Thus unhappily all their animosities were at their first intercourse 
with each other revived. 

In June Governor Gookin, in consequence of letters froni the 
Queen, who bad fitted out an expedition for the retaking of New- 
foundland and the capture of T'anad:!, convened the Asseml)ly. He 
rennested of them a hundred and fiftv soldiers, as the quota for 
the Province ; but as many of the inhabitants were hindered by their 
principles from bearing arms, he ensnged, if they vvould vote the 
sum of four thousand pounds for this nurpose, to riiise and equip 
the men. The Assembly replied, that " were it not that the rais- 
ing of money to hire men to fight, or kill one anotlier, was matter 
of conscience to t!iem and against theii- religious tenets, thev smouUI 
not be wanting according to their abilities to contribute to those 
designs. They expresscil however their loyalty to t)>e Quepn,and 
added, that, though they could nut conscientiously comply with 
15 - ' 



112 MEMOIRS OF THE LITE 

her request, yet out of gratitude to her they had resolved to pre- 
sent her with tive hundred pounds." With this proposal the Gov- 
ernor was dissatisfied. Messages passed in consequence between 
him and the Assembly ; when the latter, to get rid of them, ad- 
journed to the middle of August. 

The adjournment had not elapsed when the Governor convened 
them again. The ohl as well as new topics were now started. 
Among the latter he informed them, t!iat there was no provision 
for his (the Deputy Gover or's) support, a burthen which the Pro- 
prietor, in consequence of liis hard treatment from some whom he 
had too far trusted (Ford), was not able of himself to bear. Upon 
this the Assembly added three liundred to the five hundred pounds 
before voted to the Queen, and two hundred toward the mainte- 
nance of the Governor : but this they did not do without stating, 
that they expected him to call James Logan to account, as well as 
to concur in the passing of certain Bills, which had been prepared 
by former Assemblies and agreed t') bv the present. The Gover- 
nor rr'plied, that his instructions vvould not allow him to agree to 
Bills which broke in either upon the Proprietary's power of govern- 
tnent or bis just interest ; but he advis<Ml them to reconsider the 
Bills in question, and he would pass all those which he could con- 
scientiously sanction. 

The Asseml'ly at their next Session, Instead of reconsidering 
the Bills as had been recommended to them in the preceding, press- 
ed them upon the Governor in their fo' mer ohjectinnahle shape : 
the consequence of which was, that he refused to pass them It 
appeared too bv his speech on the occasion, that he was not allow- 
ed to pass any Bill without tlie appr bation of the Council. This 
declaration inflamed the Assembly again. They immediately sent 
him a Remonstrance, in which they pronounced the restriction, 
which had been put upon him, to he contrary to the Royal Charter; 
and tb'-y inveighed against James Logan as the author of all 
their grievances : so that this Session ended also to the irritation of 
both parties, and to the profit of neither. 

In October a new election took place, when the same members 
were mostly returned. The Governor pressed upon them a pro- 
Tision for the Lieutenancy of the Government. He entreated them, 
though he wished to take no retrospect of what was past, to ab- 
stain from all irritating expressions in their Addresses, such as 
those of pvll connu'l. ^rievances^ and oppressions^ words which he 
was sure were understood by none of them practically. With re- 
spect to James Lo2:an, be bad read bis written defence, in which 
he charged their own Speaker with proceedings, which, if true, 
would require the consideration of the House. To this they replied, 
that thev had it under consideration to make a proper provision 
for the Deputy Go v'ernor's support: but according to the funda- 
mental laws of the English Constitution, they were not obliged to 
contribute to the support of that Administration which afforded 
them no redress when their rights were violated. They then re- 
peated all the irritating expressions before mentioned, which they 
justified ; and contended, that if he (the Deputy Governor) believ- 
ed Logan's charges against their Speaker, he ought not to have ap- 



OF T^ILilAM PENM. 113 

proved of tlie latter when they had chosen him. After this the 
Governor went to Newcastle, to preside over the Assembly for the 
Territories tli^re. 

In i'.ovember tlie Assembly for the Province met again. James 
Logan, vvho was going to England for a time, petitioned them that 
he migiit be tntd upon the impeachment of a lormer Assembly in 
1706. Upon this they resolved to take into consideration his de- 
fence us well as charge ag.iiuot theii- own vSpeaker : but instead of 
going properly into either, they issued a warrant, signed by their 
owt. .'peitker, lor apprehending and putting Logan in gaol. This 
they iss .ed for his offence in reflecting upon sundry members of 
the ^tou^e in particular, anil the whole House in general ; but by a 
supersedeas from the Governor the execution of it was prevented. 
The Assembly in return pronounced the supersedeas nn illegal and 
arbitrary measure : and hence the animosities on both sides were 
continued with renewed vigour. 

James Lojian, after this, proceeded to Knjiland, where he arriv- 
ed early in 1710. He was the bearer of all these unpleasant pro- 
ceeditiijs to William Penn, bef(»re whom he cleared himself to en- 
tire satisfaction The news vv'hich he carried him would have been 
distiessing at any time, but more particularly at the present, when 
his constitution had begun so materially to fail. \\'illiam Penn, 
however, summoiiing ail his strength and faculties, made an etFort 
"to write a letter to the Assembly, of which the following is a copy. 
1 could wish the reader to observe, that he was then in his seven- 
tieth year. 

'• London, 29th 4th month, 1710. 
*' Ml' OLD Friends, 

" rt is a mournful consideration, and the cause of deep affliction 
to me, that I am forced, by the oppressions and disappointments, 
which have fallen to my share in this life, to spei^k to the people of 
that Province in a language I once lioped I should never have had 
occasion to use But the many troubles and oppositions that I 
have met with from thence, oblige me, in plainness and freedom 
to expostulate with you concerning the causes of them. 

'• When it pleased God to open a way for me to settle that colo- 
ny, I had reason to expect a solid comfoit from the services done 
to many hundreds of people ; and it was no small satisfaction to 
me, that I have not been disappointed in seeing them prosper, and 
growing up to a flourishing country, blessed with liberty, ease, and 
plenty, beyond what many of themselves could expect, and want- 
ing nothing to make tiiemselves happy, but what with a right tem- 
per of mind and prudetit conduct they might give themselves. But, 
alas! as to my part, instead of reapinsi the like advantages, some 
of the greatest of my troubles have arisen from thence. The many 
combats 1 have engaged in, the great pains and incredible expense 
for your welfare and ease to the decay of my former estate, of 
which (however some there would represent it) I too sensibly feel 
the effects, with the undeserved opposition I have met with from 
thence, sink me into sorrow, that, if not supported by a superior 
haiid, might have overwhelmed me long ago. And I cannot but 
think it hard measure, that, while tliat has proved a land of free- 



IH MEMOinS OF THE LIFE 

dom and flourishing, it should become to me, by whose means ii 
was principally made a country, the cause of griet", trouble, and 
poverty. 

" For this reason I must desire you all, even of all professions 
and de!i;rees (for although all have not been engaged in the meas- 
ures that have been taken, yet every man v. ho has an interest t!iere 
is or must be concerned in tliem by their eftects), I must therefore, 
I say, desire vou all, in a serious and true weightiness ot mind, to 
consider what you are, or have been, doing ; why matters must be 
carried on with these divisions and contentions : and what real 
causes have been given, on my side, for that opposition to me and 
my interest, which I have met with, as if I were an enemy, and 
Hot a friend, after all I have done and spent both here and tiiere : 
I am sure I know not of anv cause whatsover. Were i se- r^ihle 
you really wanted any thinijof me, in the relation between us, that 
would make you happier, I should readily grant it, if any reasona- 
ble man would sav it were fit for you to (lemand, provided yon 
would also take sue!) meHS'iresas were fi<^ for me to join with. 

'• Before any one family had transported t'lemselves thither, I 
earnestly endeavou'cd to form such a model of Government as 
miirht make all concerned in iteasv : which, nevertheless, was sub* 
ject to be altered as there should be occasion. Soon after we got 
over that model appeared, in some parts of it, to be very inconveni- 
ent, if not impracticable. The Tiumbers of members, bot!i in the 
Council and Assembly, were much too larjre. Some other matters 
also proved inconsistent with the Kin2;'s Charter to me ; so t'.iat, 
according to the power reserved for an alteration, there was a ne- 
cessity to make one, in which, if the lower counties (the Territo- 
ries) were brought in, it was well known, at that tinje, to be on a 
view of advantage to the Province itself, as well as to the people 
of those counties, an<I to the general satisfaction of th')se concern- 
ed, without the least apprehension of any irregularity in the 
method. 

" Upon this they had another Charter passed, nemine cnntradi' 
cente ; which I always desired might be continued while you your- 
selves would keep up to it and put it in practice ; and many there 
know much it was ai;;ainstmy will, that, upon n^y last going over, it 
was vacated. But after this was laid aside (which indeed was begun 
by yourselves in Colonel Fletcher's time) I, accordins; to my en- 
gagement, left another, with all the privileges that were found con- 
venient for your good government ; and, if any part of it has been 
in any case infringed, it was never by my approbation. I desired 
it might be enjoved fully. But though privileges ought to be ten- 
derly preserved, they should not, on the other hand, be asserted 
under that name to a licentiousness : the design of Government is 
to preserve good order, which may be equally broke in upon by 
the turbulent endeavours of the People, as well as the overstraining 
of power in a Governor. I designed the people should be secured 
of an annual fixed election afid Assembly : and that they should 
have the same privileges in it, that any other Assembly has in the 
Queen's dominions ; among all which this is one constant rule, as in 
Mie Parliament here, that they should sit on their own ad.journ- 



«? WILLIAM PBHW. Hi 

^entg : hut tosfrain this expression to a power to meet at all time» 

during the ^^ear, witnout tlie Governor's concuneme, would be to 
distort Govern nent, to break the due proportion of the parts ol it, 
tuestablish conlusion in the place oJ' necessary order,and make the 
legislative the executive part of" Government, let. tor obtaining 
this power, I perceive, much time and money has been spent, and 
great strut^gles have been made, not only for this, but some otiier 
things, lliat cannot at all be tor the advantage of the people to bft 
possessed of; particularly the appointing of Judges: because the 
adniinistiation might, by sucli means, be so clogged, that it would 
be difficult, if possible, under our circumstances, at some times to 
support it. As for my own part, as I desire nothing more than the 
triiuquility and prosperity of the Province and Government in all 
its branches, could 1 see that any of these things that have been 
contended for would certainly promote these ends, it would be a 
matter of indiiference to me how they were settled. But seeing 
the frame of every Government ought to be regular in itself, well 
proportionetl and SHbordii-ate in its parts, and every branch of it 
invested with sufficient povv'er to discharge its respective duty for 
the supportof t' e whole; 1 have cause to believe that nothingcould 
be more destructive to it, than to take so much of the provision and 
executive part of the Government out of the Governor's hands and 
Jodgeit in an unceitain collective body ; and more especially since 
our Governirient is dependent, and I am ansuerablr to the Crown, 
if the administration should fail, and a stop be put to the course of 
ji' tice. On these considerations, I cannot think it prudent in the 
people to crave these powers : because not only I, but they them- 
31'lves. would be in danger of sutiering by it. Could I believe oth« 
erwise, I should not oe against granting any thing of this kind, that 
were asked of me with any de, ree of common piudenceand civili- 
ty. "Rut, instead of finding cause to believe the contentions that 
have heen raised about these matters, have proceeded only from 
mistakes of judgment, with an earnest desire notwithstanding at 
the bottom to serve the public (which I hope has still been the in- 
ducement of several concerned in tl-em), I have had but too sor- 
nnvful a view and sight to complain of the mimner in which I have 
been treated. The attacks on my reputation : the many indigni- 
ties put upon me in papers sent over hither into the hands of those, 
who could not he expected to make the most discreet and charita* 
hie use of them : the secret insinuations against my justice ; besides 
the attempt made upon my estate ; resolves past in the Assemblies 
for turning my quitrents, never sold by me, to the support of Gov- 
ernment ; my lands entered upon without any regular method ; my 
manors invaded (unde? pretence I had not duly surveyed them), 
and both these by pei sons principally concerned in these attempts 
against me here : a ri^ht to my overplus land unjustly claimed by 
the possessors of the tracts in which they are found : my private 
estate continually exhausting for the support of that Government, 
both liereand there, and no provision made for ithv thatC(»untry j 
to all which I cannot but add thci violence tliat has been particu- 
larly shown to n:iy S'^cretary ; of whic!) (tliou' h I shall by no means 
protect liim in any thing he can justly be charged with, but suffer 



116. MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

feim to stand or fall by his own actions) I cannot but thus far take 
uotice, that, from all the charges 1 have seen or heard of against 
him, 1 have cause to believe, that liad he been as much in opposi- 
tion to me as he has been understood to stand for me, he might 
have met with a milder treatment from his persecutors ; and to 
think that any man should be the more expose i there on my account, 
and, instead of finding favour, meet with enmity, for Ins being en- 
gaged in my service, is a melancholy consideration! !n short, 
when i reflect on all these heads, of which 1 have tvo much cause 
to complain, and at the same time tliink of tie hards lips I and my 
suifering family have been reduced to. in no small measure owing 
to my endeavours for, and disappointments from, that Pio\iiice ; i 
cannot but mourn the unhappiness of my portion, dealt to me from 
those, of whom I had reason to expect much better and ditferent 
things; nor can 1 but lament the unhappiness that too many of 
them are bringing on themselves, Vvho, instead of pursuing the am- 
icable ways of peace, love, and unity, which 1 at tirst hoped to find 
in that retirement, are cherishing a spirit of contention and oppo- 
sition, and, blind to their own interest, are oversetting that foun- 
dation on which your happiness might be built. 

'• Fi lends ! the eyes of niany are upon you : the people of many 
nations of Europe look on that Country as a land of ease and «|u.et, 
wishing to themselves in vain thesame blessings they conceive you 
may enioy : but. to see the use you make ol them is no less the 
cause of surprise to others, while such hitter complaints and reflec- 
tions are seen to come from you, of which it is difiicult to conceive 
even the sense or meaning. Where are the distresses, grievances, 
and oppressions, that the papers, sent from tlience, so often say 
you lam^uish under, while otliers have cause to believe you have 
hitherto lived, or might live, the happiest of any in the Queen's 
dominions .'^ 

'• Is it such a grievous oppression, that the Courts are ; stablish- 
ed by my i ower, founded on the King's Charter, without a law of 
vour making, when upon the same plan you propose ? If this dis- 
turb anv, take the advice of other able lawyers on the main, with- 
out tying me up to the opinion of principally one man, whom I can- 
Bot think so very proper to direct in my affairs (for 1 believe the 
late Assembly have had but that one lawyer amongst them), and I 
am freely content vou should have any law that, by proper judges, 
should be founil suitable. Is it your oppression that the Ofticers' 
fees are not settled by an Act of Assembly ? No man can be a 
greater enemy to extortion than myself. Do, thereiore, allow such 
fees as may reasonably encourage fit persons to undertake these 
o3ices,and you sliail soon have (and should have always cheerful- 
ly hati) mine, and, I hope, my Lieutenant's concurrence and ap- 
probation. Is it such an oppression that licenses for public-houses 
have not been settled, as l.as been proposed ? It is a certain sign 
vou are strangers to oppression, and know notliing but tlie name, 
when you so highly bestow it on matters so inconsiderable : but that 
business I find is adjusted. Could I know any real oppression you 
lie under, that it is in my power to remedy, (and what I wish you 
v,ould take proper measures to remedy, if you truly feel any such.) 



OF WILLIAM PENK-. 1 If 

\ would be as ready on m j part to remove tliem as you to desire it 5^ 
hut, according to the hest jiulgment 1 can make of the complaints I 
have seen (and you once thought I had a pretty good one), I must 
in a deep sense of sorrow say, that I fear the kind hand of Provi- 
dence, that has so long favoured and protected you, will, by the in- 
gratitude of many there to tlie great mercies of God hitherto sliown 
thetn, be at length provoked to convince them of their unworthi- 
Hess : and, by changing the blessings, that so little care has been 
taken by the public to deserve, into calamities, reduce those that 
have been so clamorous and causelessly discontented to a true 
but smarting sense of their duty. I write not this with a design to 
include all ; I doubt not many of yau have been burthened at, and 
can by no means join in, the measures tliat have been taken ; but 
wliiift such things appear under the name of an Assemblv, that 
ought to represent the whole, I cannot but speak more generally 
than I would desire, though I am not insensible what methods may 
be used to obtain the weight of such a name. 

I have already been tedious, and shall now therefore briefly 
say, that the opposition I have met witli from thence must at length 
force me to consider more closely of my own private and sinking 
circumstances in relation to that Province. In the mean time I 
desire you ail seriously to weigh n hat I have wrote, together with 
your duty to yours'dves, to me, and to the world, who have their 
eyes upon you, and are witnesses of my early and earnest care 
for you. I must think there is a regard due to me that has not of 
late been paid; pray consider of it fully, and think soberly what yon 
have to desire of me on the one hand, and ought to perform to me 011. 
the other; for from the next Assembly I shall expect to know what 
vou resolve, and what I may depend on. If I must continue my re- 
gards to you, let me be engaged to it by a like disposition in you 
towards me. But if a plurality, after tins, shall think they owe me 
none, or no more than for some years I have met with, let it, on a 
fair election, he so declared ; and I shall then, without further sus- 
pense, know what I have to rely upon. God give you his wisdom 
and fear to direct you. that yet our poor Countiy may be blessed 
■•.vith peace, love, and industry, and we may once moi e meet good 
friends, and live so to the end, our relation in the Truth having 
but the same true interest. 

" I am, with gi-eat truth and most sincere regard, j-our rea5 
Friend as well as just Proprietor and Governor, 

" ^>^"ILLIAMPENN." 

This letter arrived safe. What answer was returned to it does 
not app'^ar : but the result of it is well known ; for, however there 
might be some who thought the Proprietor had not conducted him- 
self properly in all respects towards tliem, yet the serious nature 
of it affected the considerate part of the Assembly, so that they 
began now to feel for the Father of his Country, to pity him in his 
declining vears, and to put a just value upon his labours, which 
had been expended indeed in their service. This sentiment spread 
as the contents of the letter became knowii, so as at length to af- 
fect the A\holp Province : the consequence of which was, that at the- 



Hi MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

next annual Election in October not one of those Members was r»»' 
turned who had served in the preceding year. This was th.e great- 
est compliment that the Province could at this time have paid 
him. It was in fact a national answer to, and a national compli- 
ance with, his letter : " for if," said he in that letter, as we have 
just read, " a plurality, after this, shall think, thej owe me no re- 
gard, or no more than for some years I have met with, let it, on a 
fair Rlection, be so declared ; and I shall then, without further sus-^ 
pense, know what I have to rely upon." 

The new Members having- been elected, and duly qualified ta 
act. Governor Gookin met them in \ssembly. Great harmony is 
said to have subsisted between tliem and the G ivernor, such as 
had not been witnessed for years, so that many Laws wer6 
agreed 'ipon anil passed to the satisfaction of all tlie branches of 
the Legislature. 

In the early part of 171 1, the Governor, having received an ex- 
press fro o 'England res|<ecting the expedition against Canaila, 
convened the same Assembly. He pr(»p<')se(l to them, as he had 
done to their predecessors, the raising and er^uipment of a certain 
Dumber of men, or that they would vute a sum equivalent to tiie 
purpose. Thev expressed their regret, that on account of their 
religious principles they couki not comply with hi^ request; but 
th'^y voted two thousand pounds as a present to the Queen, and 
passed a Bill for the raising of it. 

In the O'-tober follovving the Klection came on again. Several 
of those who were in the Assemblv of 1709 were chosen, but the 
House retained its last Speaker. Governor G -okin informeci them. 
that the Proprietary had desired him to signify to them the pleas- 
ure which tlieir harmonious coniluct of late had giv«n him, and 
that he should be glad to serve the people of the province; and 
that he left it to themselves to think of the means that might best 
conduce to their own quiet and interest. He offered at the 
same time his own ready concurrence to any thing of that nature 
which thev shonld pronose consistent with the honour and interest 
of the Crown, of the Proprietary, and of the public welfare. He 
concluded his Address to them by recommending them to think of 
a proper provision for his own support. 

In return to this, the x\ssembly acknowledged the kind regard 
of the Proprietor towards them; they thanked the Governor for 
his own readiness to concur in the propositions of the latter, and 
they promised to take care of his support ; which they did after- 
wards to his satisfaction. 

, But here it Avill be necessary to conclude our history of the 
Province : for William Penn having lost in a great degree his mem- 
ory and understanding by an apoplectic fit in the ensuing year, 
we can have no motive for continuing it. While he was in his 
health and senses we saw him move and act. We saw him advise 
and direct. We took therefore an inte -est in what he did. But 
when he was rendered incapable of acting, we lose oar interest 
with his powers. And the same may be said relative to himself; 
fo'-, when he was rendered incaoable of his usual perceptions, the 
Province became as dead to him in point of interest, as without 
his movements and motives it becomes to u&. 



&-B WILLIAM TKii'fiv 119 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



%i. 1713-14-15-16-17-18— graf^r/af/y declines— account of him diir* 
ins; this period — dies at Rushcomb — concourse of people at his 
funeral — malevolent report concerning him after his dfath--^er* 
tificates of Simon Clement and Hannah Mitchdl—^short account 
of his will. 

The account which we have of William Penn from this time, 
though authentic as far as it goes, is very short. It is stated in 
Basse's History of his Life, that one of his intimate Friends visit- 
ed him once every year from the present period ; and it is chiefly 
from him, that is, from the memoranduius he left behind him of 
these visits, that I have heen enabled to continue it. 

In 171S the Friend alluded to, being at his house some days, 
*' found him to appearance pretty well in health, and cheerful of 
disposition, but defective in memory ; so that though he could re- 
late manv past transactions, yet he could not readily recollect the 
names of absent persons, nor could he deliver his words so readily 
as heretofore : yet many savoury and sensible expressions came 
from him, rendering his company even yet acceptable, and rnani* 
festins; the religious stability of his mind." 

Tlie same Friend in his second visit, which he made to him in the 
spring of 1714, found him very little altered from what he had been 
last year. He accompanied him in his carriage to Reading meet- 
ing. He describes him as rising up there to exhort th(»se present ; as 
speaking several sensible sentences, though not able to say much ; 
and, on leaving the meeting to return home, as takin'^; leave of his 
friends with much tenderness. This, as T observed before, was in 
the spring; but we learn sometliing more concerning him from 
another quarter in the autumn of the same year. His old friend 
Thomas Story arrived at this time in England, and went to Rush- 
comb to see him The account he gives of him is as follows : '* He 
was then," says Thomas Story, " under the lamentable effects of 
an apoplectic fit, which he had had some time before ; for bis mem- 
ory was almost quite lost, and the use of his understanding sus- 
pended, so that he was not so conversible as formerlv, and vet as 
near the Truth, in the love of it, as before, wherein appeared t!ie 
great mercy and favour of God, who looks not as man looks ; for 
though to some this accident might look like judgment, and no 
doubt his enemies so accounted it, yet it will bear quite anothe;- in- 
terpretation, if it be considered how little time of rest he ever had 
from the importunities of the affairs of others, to the great hurt of 
his own and suspension of all his enjoyments, till this happened to 
him, by which he was rendered incapable of all business, ind yet 
sensible of the enjoyment of Truth as at any time in all hi? life> 
16 



120 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

When I went to the house I thought myself strong enough to see 
him in that condition ; but when 1 entered the room, and perceived 
the great defect oJ his expressions for want of memory, it greatly 
bowed my spirit under a consideration of the uncertainty of all hu- 
man qualifications, and what the finest of men are soon reduced to 
by a disorder of the organs of that hody. with which the soul is 
connected and acts during this present mode of being. When these 
are but a little obstructed in their various functions, a man of the 
clearest parts and finest expression becomes scarcely intelligible. 
Nevertheless, no insanity or lunacy at all appeared in his actions; 
and his mind was in an innocent state, as appeared by his very 
loving deportment to all t'^at came near him : and that he had still 
a good sense of I'ruth is plain by some very clear sentences he 
spoke in the life and power of Truth in an evening-meeting we 
had together there, wlierein we were greatly comforted ; so that I 
■was ready to think this was a sort of sequestration of him from 
all the concerns of this life which so much oppressed him, not in 
judgment, but in mercy, that he might have rest, and not be op- 
pressed t'lerehy to the end." 

In 1715 his intimate friend before alluded to again visited him. 
His memory, it appears, bad become yet more deficient, but his 
love and sense of religious enjoyments apparently continued ; for 
he still often went in his chariot to the meeting at Reading, and 
there sometimes uttered short but very sound and savoury expres- 
sions. One morning, while this friend w:,s at his house, being 
about to go to the meeting, he expressed his desire to the Lord 
tha^ they might receive some good from him. This year he went 
to Bath, but the waters there proved of no benefit to his long-con- 
tinued complaint. 

In 1716 the same friend and another visited him again, at whose 
coming he seemed glad : and though he could not then remember 
their names, yet by his answers it appeared he knew their persons. 
He was now much weaker than last year, but still expressed him- 
self sensibly at times, and particularly took his leave of them at 
their going away in these words : " My love is with you: the Lord 
preserve vou and remember me in the everlastins; covenant." 

In 1717 his friend made his last visit to him. He then found his 
understanding so much weakened, that he scarce knew his old ac- 
quaintances; and his bodily strength so much decayed, that he 
could not well walk without leading, nor scarce express himself 
intelligibly. 

We learn from this account of his friend, combined with that of 
Thomas Story, that his decay was gradual : and that, though his 
frame had been sogrievouslyshattered and impaired, his existence 
under it had been left comfortable. He had sufficient sense and 
understanding left to exhibit the outward appearance of innocence 
and love, and the inward one of the enjoyment of the Deity him- 
self bv an almost constant communion with his Holy Spirit. 

In the year 1718 the forementioned History of his Life continues 
the account ti.us : " After a continued and gradual declension for 
Ttbout six years his body now drew near to its dissolution, and on the 



OF WrtLlAM TSKIh. If 1 

ihirtiieth day of the fifth month (July) 1718, between two and three 

in the morning, in t!ie seventy -fourth year of his age, his soul, pre* 
pared tor a more glorious habitation, forsook the decayed taberna- 
cle, wliich was coinniitted to the earth on the fifth of the sixtli 
month followinji; at Jordaus in Buckinghamshire, where his former 
wife and several of !iis family had been interred. And as he had 
led in riiis life a course o'" patient continuance in well-doing, and 
through fa;th in our J^ord Jesus Christ had been enabled to over- 
con\e tne world, the flesh, and the devil, the grand enemies of 
man's salvation, he is, we doubt not, admitted to that everlasting 
inlieritance which God hath prepared for hispeople, and made par- 
taker of the promise of Christ, Rev. iii. 21. * To him that over- 
cometh will 1 grant to sit with me in my throne, even as 1 also 
overcanif. and am set down with my Father in his throne.' " 

His funeral was attended by a great concourse of people from all 
parts, by many of the most valued of the Society, and by many of 
different leligious denominations, to pay this last tribute of respect 
to him. Among the former was Thomas Story. " I arrivecl," 
savs Thomas Story, " at Rushcomb late in the evening, where I 
found the widow and most of the family together. My coming oc- 
casioned a fresh remembrance of the deceased, and also a renewed 
flood of many tears from all eyes. A solid time (of worship) we 
had togt tlier, but few words among us for some time j for it was a 
deep baptizing seastm, and the LonI was near at that time. On the 
filth ( accompanied the corpse to t'.e grave, where we had a large 
meeting ; and as the Lord had made clioice of him in the days of 

his youth for great and good services had been with him in 

many dangers and difficulties of various sorts, and did not leave 
him in his last moments so he was pleased to honour this occa- 
sion with his blessed presence, and gave us a happy season of tiii 
goodness to the general satisfaction olall." 

After his funeral, as if malevolence had not sufficiently harrass- 
ed Iiim in life, a report got ahroa<l, that he had died mad at Bath. 
The report spreading. Henry Pickworth, who had been formerly a 
minister among tht Quakers but disowned by them, availed him- 
self of it, if he did not invent it, to wound tlie feelings of the latter. 
Accordingly, so late even as twelve years after his death, that is, 
in 1730, he published a letter, in which he stated the two circum- 
stances before mentioned ; and in adverting to the lunacy, he de- 
scribed it to be " of the nature of Nebuchadnezzar's of old, which 
terminated in rage and madness before the end of his days." Jo- 
seph Besse in his " Answer to Patrick Smith. M A. a Clergyman 
of Huntingdonshire,'' notices the two charges, and repels them 
thus : "' But if," says he, "' he was never lunatic nor mad, and did 
not end his days at Bath, then here are two falsehoods in fact." 
After this he produced two certificates, to establish the falsehoods ; 
one from Simon Clement, a gentleman who had been an intimate 
acquaintance of William Penn, and the other from Hannah Mitch- 
ell of St. Martin-le-grand, London. The former ran thus : 

" He was indeed," says Mr. Clement," attacked with a kind uf 
apoplectic fit in London in the month of May 171'2, from whicii he 
recovered, and did go to the Bath, and from thence to Bristol, 



USA MEMOIRS OF THE LtFE 

Vrhere he had a semnd fit about September following ; and in about 
three months attei he had the third fit at his own house at iiush* 
comb, which impaired his memory, so that though he knew his 
friends well, who came to visit him, and rejoiced to see them, jet 
be could not hold any discourse with them, or even call them by 
their names. But this was so far from any show of lunacy, that 
his a tions ivere regular and orderltf,&ni\ nothing appeared in his 
behaviour, but a loving, meek, quiet, easy temper and a childish iu' 
nocence, which to me seemed a great indication of his having been 
ill n very happ^ frame of spirit at the time when he was surprised 
with this -ndisposition ; under which he continued (but otherwise 
in 1. pretty good stite of healtli) till tlie month of July 1718, when 
be was taken with a fever, of which he <lied i^not at the Haiti), but 
at his own house at Rushcomb in Berkshire, but without ever hav* 
in^- any symptoms of raging or inadness, though the same is wick- 
edly aflirmed by this false witness Henry Fickworth." 

The second was as follows : " 1 think fit to acquaint the worldj 
that the late account given by Henrv Pickworth concerning my 
worthy master, William Penn, is notoriously false. I had the hon- 
our to wait on Wuw from the beginning of his last indisposition, 
which was a palsie, occasioned by a third apoplectic fit." 

By his last will made in 171£, a few months befoie his first at» 
tack by apoplexy, he left his estates in Kngland and Ireland to 
William, his eldest surviving son by Gulielma A]aria,hi8 first wife, 
and to the issue of that marriage, which then consisted of his said 
son William, lii» daughter Letitia (married to William Aubrey), 
and three children of his son William; namely, Gulielma Maria, 
Springett, and William. The Government of his Province of 
Pennsylvania and Territories and powers thereunto belonging he 
devised to bis particular friends, Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, 
and Earl Mortimer; and W^illiam, Earl Powlett ; and their heirs, 
upon trust, to dispose thereof to the Queen or any other person to 
the best advantage they could, ta be applied in such manner as he 

should hereafter direct. He then devised to his wife Hannah 

Penn, together with eleven others and to their heirs, all his lanus, 
rents, and other profits in America, upon trust, to dispose of so 
much thereof as should be sufficient to discharge all his debts, and, 
after payment thereof, to convey to his daughter Letitia, and to 
each of three children before mentioned of his son William, ten 
thousand acres of land (the forty thousand to he set out in such 
places as his trustees should think fit), and then to convey all the 
rest of his landed property there, subject* to the payment of three 
hundred pounds a-year to his wife for her natural life, to and 
amongst his children by her (John, Thomas, Marfi;aret, Richard, 
and Dennis, all minors), in such proportions and for such estates 
as his said wife should think fit. All his personal estate in Penn- 
sylvania and elsewhere, and arrears of rent due tliere, he devised 
to his said wife, whom he made his sole executrix, for the equal 
benefit of her and her children. 

William Penn having made this his last will in 1712, and after- 
vards agreed, as before related, to part with the Province to Gov- 
ernment foi: 125000^ : a question argse after his decease, whetlier 



OF WILLIAM JEKtf. 123 

>vl\at was devised to the said Earls to be sold, should, as then cir- 
cumstanced, be accountectpart of the real or of the personal estate of 
the testator(the latter by the will beinsr the propeity of the widow)? 
The two Earls in consequence declined to act in their trust without a 
dec ee of the Court of Chancery for their indemnity. This process, 
together with other difficulties that had arisen, kept the property of 
the family in a perplexing state of uncertainty for about eight or 
nine years. At length, however, all the disputed points were ami*- 
cably adjusted by the respective parties interested, amongst them- 
selves, before any decree had issued ; and in pursuance thereof not 
only the Province itself but also the Government of it descended 
to John, Thomas, and Richard Penn, the surviving sons of the 
younger branch of the family, thenceforward the Proprietaries. 

It is proper to remark, that when William Penn made his last 
will, his estates in England and Ireland, which produced upwards 
of fifteen hundred pounds annually, were esteemed of more value 
than all his property in America, especially as only part of the 
mortgage thereon of 1708 had been discharged ; but during the in- 
terval of rather more than six years between that and the time of 
bis death, a progressive increase of trade and population, almost 
tinexampled,diiringahappv state ofuninterrupted tranquility, had 
improved the value of the Pennsylvanian property far beyond 
what could have been imagined ; in addition to which the Crown- 
lawvers had given a joint opinion, which was adopted by Govern- 
ment, that the agreement for sale in 1712 was made void by 
William Penn's inability to execute the surrender in a proper 
manner- 



CHAPTER XIX. 

•8Qvie account of his person — of his mannpr and habits — <and of his 
2}rivate character^ 

Having followed William Penn from the cradle* to the grave, 
I sliall conclude by an account of his person, manners, and char- 
actei-, as far as I have had an opportunity of tracing them. 

It appears that he was tall in stature, and of an athletic make. 
He delighted when young, as has been before observed, in manly 
sports. In maturer years he was inclined to corpi'lency, but using. 
a great deal of exercise he was very active with it. His appearancrf 



at t";is time was that of a fine portly man 

We have no portrait taken of him while alive. S)lvanus Be 



±zpM 



• I take tliis opportunity of supplying^ an omission made at the end of chap'1 
\Tol. i, where I ouylit to have stated that \^ iiliHm^l'enn had a younger brotjier, 
Richard whodii d at Hickniansworth, and was buried a?* Wattstead 1673 ; and « 
«i *Tr Margaret, who married Anthony Lowtlier, Eiq. of Maskc. 

t He "as- in hi^h repute as a man of Foenceand literature, and possessed a talent 
of takiiK' sriking likenesses from recollection and carving them in ivory, though he 
indulgedl in it but sparinglyi 



ilM MEMOIRS OF TRE LIFE 

« chemist of eminence in London, who wlien young had known him 
well, took great pains to form a bust of him some time after his 
decease, in whicn he was assisted by the recollection of others fa- 
miliarly acquainted with him ; and having made three copies of it, 
he sent one of them to James Logan of Philadelphia. The engra- 
ving prefixed to Proud's History of Pennsylvania (an American 
publication) is taken fnnn this bust, and enables us to have a tol- 
erably accurate idea ot his person. There appear in the eye deep 
reflection and strength of intellect, and in the mouth a sort ot calm 
benignity. The face is not an usual on<.', aiid there is in the coun- 
tenance throughout a great sweetness, and a general look ol be- 
nevolent feeling. I may observe here, that a statue of him was 
erected at the seat of the late Lord Le Despencer near High Wy- 
comb. On the alienation of the estate the pedestal was suttered to 
decay. The statue, valued then only as old lead, was purchased 
by a neighbouring plumber, from whom one of the proprietor's 
grandsons procuring it, presented it to the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital in Philadelphia. No dependence, however, is to be placed 
on this, as any likeness of the person it professed to represent. 

William Penn was very neat, though plain, in his dress. He 
■walked generally with a cane. 'I'his cane he was accustomed to 
take with him in the latter part of his life into his study, where, 
•when he dictated to an amanuensis, as was frequently his practice, 
he would take it in his hand, and walking up and down the room 
would mark, by stnkin- it against the floor, the emphasis on points 
which he wished particularly to be noticed. 

He was very neat also as to his person, and had a great aversion 
to the use of tobacco. However, wlien he was in America he was 
often annoyed by it, but he bore it with good humour. We have 
an anecdote of him there, as it relates to tliis custom. Several of 
his particular Friends were one day assembled at Burlington. 
While they were smoking their pipes, it was announced to them, 
that the Governor's barge was in sight and coming up the river. 
The company supposed that he was on his way to Pennsbury, 
about seven miles higher up. They continued smoking ; but being 
afterwards informed that he had landed at a wharf near them and 
was just entering the house, they suddenly concealed their pipes. 
Perceiving from the smoke when he went into the room, what they 
had been doing, and discovering that the pipes had been hid, he 
said very pleasantly, "Well, Friends, I am glad that you are at 

last ashamed of your old practice." "Not entirely so." replied 

Samuel Jenings, one of the company, " but we preferred laying 
down our pipes to t' e danger of offending a weak brother." They 
then expressed their surprise at this abrupt visit, as in his passage 
from Philadelphia n;;t only the tide but the wind had been furious- 
ly against him. He replied with a smile on his countenance, " that 
he had been sailing against wind and tide all Ids life." 

Having a variety of business to go through, he was obliged to be 
an ceconomist of his time. He was therefore regular and method- 
ical in his movements. This regularity and method he carried in- 
to his family, and this not only in their temporal but their spiritual 
concerns. It appears by a paper which he wrote, and which was pro- 



OF WILLIAM PSNR. \99 

bablj stuck up in some conspicuous {)lace in his house, and which 
contained "Christian Discipline; or, Good and wholesome Orders 
for t!ie well governinj^ of his Family," that in that quarter of the 
year vvhich included part of the winter, and part of the spring, the 
members of it were to rise at seven in the morning, in the next at 
six, in the next at five, and in the last at six again. Nine o'clock 
was the hour for breakfast, twelve for dinner, seven for supper, 
and ten to retire to bed. The whole family were to assemble eve- 
ry morning for worship. They were to be called together atelevea 
again, that each might read in turn some portion of the holy Scrip- 
ture, or of Martyrology, or ot Friends' books ; and finally they 
Avere to meet again for worship at six in the evening. On the days 
of public meeting, no one was to be al)sent except on the plea of 
health or of unavoidable engagement. The servants were to be cal- 
led up after supper to render to their master and mistress an ac- 
count of what they had done in the day, and to receive instructions 
for the next. The same paper laid down rules for their guidance. 
They were to avoid loud discourse and troublesome noises ; they 
were not to absent themselves without leave ; they were not to go 
loanv public-house but upon business; and they were not to loi- 
ter, or enter into unprofitable talk while on an errand. It con- 
tained also exhortations to them, to be upright and faithful to their 
employers, and, though each had a particular service, to be willing, 
all of them to assist each other, as it becaaie brethren and fellow- 
servants. And lastly, it contained one general exhortation to all: 
every member of the family was instructed to keep a watch over 
his mind, to beware of lying, defrauding, tale-bearing, and other 
vicious practices there specified ; to abstain from words which 
would provoke lightness, and from giving each other bad names ; 
and in case of difference, nut to let the sun go down upon their 
wrath. 

William Penn is said to have possessed fine talents. Sir John 
Rhodes, who was very intimate with him, and who wrote the pre- 
face to his posthumous work, called " Fruits of a Father's Love, 
being the Advice of William Penn to his Children relating to their 
civil and religious Conduct," says, that he was qualified for a high 
station in life by very bright and excellent parts, and these cultivat- 
ed and improved by the advantage of a liberal education, and also 
polished by travelling abroad, and by conversation with some of the 
greatest men the age produced. Of these his father was very sen- 
sible, which gave him so shocking a concern when his son espous- 
ed the principles of the despised Quakers, that it threw him into 
violent agonies, so that, as WiUia » Penn himself told Sir John 
Rhodes, his father was in bitterness for him as a man is in bitter- 
ness for his first-born. 

William Penn was indefatigable as a minister of the Gospel. It 
is also said of him that, though he was a learned man, he used, 
while preaching, language the most simple and easy to be under- 
stood, and that he had a happy May of explaining himself by ima- 
ges the most familiar. He was of such humility, that he used gen- 
erally to sit at the lowest end of the space allotted to ministers, 
always taking care to place above himself poor ministers, and 



12S MEMOIRS OF THE LIFfc 

those who appeared to him to be peculiarly gifted. He was also no 
less remarKable for encouraging those who were young in the min* 
istry. Thomas Story, among others, witnessed this. " I had no 
C'turage." says he, " of my own to appear in public among them 
(the ministers). I thought however (on seeing Aaron Atkinson's 
ministry acceptable) that I might also probably go through the 
meetings without oSlsnce, which was the full amount of my expect 
tation or desire there ; and that which added much to my encour- 
agement was the fatherly care and behaviour of the ministers ia 
general, but especially tliat great minister of the Gospel, atid faith-^ 
lul servant of Christ, William Penn, who abountleil in wisdom, 
discretion, prudence, love, an! tentlernessof affection, with all sin- 
cerity, above most in this generation ; and indeed I never knevf' 
his equal." 

He is handed down, by those who knew him, to have been very 
pleasant and strikingly animated in conversation. He had rather 
a disposition to facetiou nf'ss, clotlied however in the purest habit 
of decoruin. We have no t"-<timonv against this but that of Bishop 
Burnet, who says "that he was a talking vain man. He had such an 
opinion of his own faculty of persuading, that be thought none 
could stand before it, though he was singular in that opinion ; for 
he had a tedious luscious wav of talking, not apt to overcome a 
man's reason, thoujjh it mii^ht tire his patience." It is perhaps 
hardly worth while to rt'fute a statement which affects so little the 
in')ral character ; and yet trith is always to be preferred and de- 
fended. Leaving then out of the question the oral testimony of 
those who knew him well, I may observe tliat it is recorded in the 
Gentleman's Vlagazine { V. 1737) th it a person one travelled with 
Vr illiam Penn in astage-co3ch," and a pleasant comvnnion he was.''* 
This person was so struck by it. as to ask him, seeing; the Society 
despised humin learninij, where he and Barclav and Keith receiv- 
ed their education. I may mention also, that Dr. Tillotson con- 
cluded one of his letters to William Penn in these words : " T will 
seek the first opportunity to visit vou at Charing-cross,and renew 
our acquaintance. i>i ivhicli I took much pleasure." Surely Dr. 
Tillotson, one of the most accomplished and polite scholars of his 
age, and a serious Christian, could never have taken great pleasure 
in the conversation of a talking vain inan.or of one who had atedious 
way of talking. Again, if we look into Noble's Continuation of 
Granger, v/e shall find that Dean Swift asserted, that" Penn talk- 
ed very a^rpeabbj and with much spirit." Now we know that 
Dean Swift frequentlv met him in company with great people, and 
that he knew him so well, as in one of his letters to Mrs. Johnson 
to call him his friend Penn. But Burnet himself was not a shrewd- 
er man than Swift, nor better capable of judging upon a question 
like that before us. 

He was a man of great sensibility. Those who knew him have 
geen the tear start in his eye at the relation of tales of wretchedness, 
and, what is more remarkable, at the relation of acts of peculiar 
kindness to those who needed it. An instance of the latter na- 
ture is recorded by John Richardson in his Journal, hut it is too 
long to detail throughout. It appears there that John Richardson 



OF WILLIAM PKNH* 127" 

3H(! .Tames Bates, two Quaker ministefs, who were on a religious 
Miissioii, landed from a sloo[) atBermud-i in \7\i2. They wereirn- 
meliately ordered up ( < t!ie Goveinineiit-house. The sea-sick im.'SS 
was still upon them, au<i they were sliivering and faint. In this 
st^tethey were ushered inti> the Governor's pre-;ence. Here they 
expected UDtliing but rouojh usage, if liot a prison ; but instead of 
these thev experienced every tiling that was hospit-ibh- and humane. 
The Governor (Bennett) not on! v gave them refreshment, and en- 
tered into friendly conversation with them relative to their relig- 
ious tenets, but, finding them in a weakly state, lent them his own 
horses to ride upon as far as an inlet of water, which they were to 
cross. Here Judge Staflbrd, perceiving two strangers, sent his 
boat for them. He received them into his own house where he re- 
freshed them and lodged them also. The next day he accommo- 
diited them with horses in like usanner to enable them to pursue 
their mission on the island. 1 may now observe, tliat John Rich- 
ardson was afterwards with William Penn, and that he tnid him 
these and other particulars connected with the tale as they occt- 
red. and that William Penn was greatly affected by the narration; 
for " when," says John Ricliardson, •• I told William Penn how it 
had fared with us on that island, and especially the kindness of the 
two chief men in power there, he ivepty 

William Penn was equalled by few in his attention to the poor, 
or in his attention to others, of v/hatever class in life or religious 
description, who lived in his neij^hbourhood : so tliat perhaps no 
man was ever more popular within these limits. His memory on 
this account was held dear, both at Rickmansworth and Worming- 
hurst, long afler he iiad left these places ; and so dear was it on the 
same account at Rushcomb, the last place of his residence, that his 
name at entire length, and compound names alluding to his Ameri- 
can possessions, appear in the Paris'* Re-;ister as havinsbeen given 
by parents in the neighbourhood to their children, in honour of the 
memory of his worth. 

There is another anecdote I may mention, which, though trifling 
in itself, will afford us another view of his character. In the vear 
1690 " An History of the Old and New Testai-eiit" came out, 
*• translated from t'le Works of the learned Le Sieur dc Royau- 
mont, by Joseph Raynor. B. I), and supervised by Dr. Anthony 
Horneck, Henry Wharton, B. D. and others." It contained two 
hundred and sixty plates or engiavings, which represented certain 
transactions, parables, or histories, as recorded in t' e Scriptures. 
Each plate, that is, the design and t\\Q expense of engraving it, was 
furnished by some person of quality or eminence, to whom it was 
addressed. King William and Queen Mat v each presented one 
to the work. Among other contributors to it was William Penn. 
The subject of the plate whic'i he oave was the Parable of the TaU 
ents. The rich man appeared sitting with his steward and ot'^ers 
at a large tal)le, where there was pen, ink, and scrolls of pnner. 
Two of those who had received the talents stood near the table. 
He who had received the largest share had laid his five ha<r« unon 
it. These the steward had examined, and he was then en'ei ing 
the amount of them in a book. lie v/ho had received the two tal- 
17 



I£6 4(tKM0IllS or THE MPS 

ents was seen standing with his two bags in his hand, ready to lay 
them on the fable when called upon and to deliver his account. He 
who had received but one was seen kneeling with one knee, and 
■with his ba^also near him, on the ground, and lifting up his hands 
and imploring mercy. At a little distance appeared tiie hole in the 
ground, from w lich the bag had been taken; close to which were 
lying the pick-axe and spade which had been used in digging it up. 
Such was the n;iture of the plate furnished by ^^ illiam Penn. VVe 
may collect from it, that though perhaps like others of his own re- 
ligious Society, he was no great encoura<;;er of the arts, yet \\% 
availed l)imself of the opportunity of promoting them where they 
could be made subservient t'» relif>;ion, or rather that he omitted no 
innocent opportunity of promoting the cause of the latter. We 
col'ect again, where his mind was most conversant, or where it de« 
lighte<l most to be employed, namf ly, in eolars-ing the empire of 
moral good. He might 1 ave handed to the Artist a fine subject for 
his pencil, or a subject for the indulgence of hi« own curiosity, or 
the display of his own taste ; but he chose that which, by means of 
the en<i;raving in question, should inculcate the most important les- 
son that Christianity teaches mankind, namely, the duty of em- 
ploying their talents to the utmostf(»r the benefit of each other,and 
the sin of the omission. 1 may observe, that no man inculcated 
this lesson more frequently by his own practice than himself 

These few anecdotes relating to William Penn, received chiefly 
from persons who had them from others personally acquainted with 
him, or to be found in scarce books, I have thought it proper to 
bring forward, because, being contained in no other History of his 
liife, they must be new to most readers. As to the other compo- 
nent parts of his character, they may be gathered from the preced- 
ing sheets of this work. It mav he deduced from these, tl> at he 
was a kind Husband, a tender Father, a noble Patriot, and a good 
Man. But as they who read may collect these and other estima- 
ble traits for themselves, it seems unnecessary that I should do it 
for them. I will therefore avail myself but of one statement which 
these Memoirs afford me, as the admission of it will fix his charac- 
ter at once. He seems then, if I may use the expression, to have 
been daily conversant with the Divine Being, daily worshipping 
and praising him, either in his own private, or in his family, or in 
in his public devotions, and daily walking with him in his multifa- 
rious concerns. All his publications, nay, almost every letter, 
whether public or private, breathes a spirit of piety and reliance 
upo'i God. Hence he must l^ave been lowly-minded, merciful, and 
just. Hence under disappointment he must have been patient, 
under persecution forgiving. And here let me observe, that, 
though bis life was a scene of trial and suffering, he must have had 
intervals of comfort and happiness the most solid and brilliant, one 
ray from the Divine nresence dissipating whole clouds of affliction 
around him. What other amiaMe traits must there not have been 
in the character ef one who walked in such an heavenly path ! 



«» WILtXAM PKViy. 1^91 



CHAPTER XX. 

Examination of the outcry against him of '^ Papist and JesuiV^-—* 
of the charges against him by Burnet — and of those contained in 
the State Papers of JSTairnp — and in the insinuations of Lord 
Lyttletun — and Or. Franklin. 

I believe it may be said, with no small degree of truth, that few 
men (>fcliaracter ever experienced such a continued outcry against 
them, while living, as Williatn Penn; that few men of chiiracter 
ever liad their posthu nous fame so tarnished, and this by persons 
of high reputation in the world ; and that few men, after all the 
imputations against tl;em had heen allowed to wander free and 
unc'iiitrolled, ever triumplied more in the estimation of posterity 5 
I mean the posterity of the presentday. 

But though by means of his great and public actions founded in 
virtue, (for no other foundation had availed,) some reputed objec- 
tionable transacfions of his private life have been so far eclipsed, 
that the former are now only generally conspicuous, it does notfol- 
low tli.it we oug:bt to overlook the latter. It is but justice to the 
memory ;if William Penn to inquire, whether they existed at all. 
The presumption is. from what we have seen of his character, that^ 
they could have had no foundation in fact. But if they did not ex- 
ist, then his history ought not to be sullied by the continuation of 
such mischievous errors. 

The first of the imputations against him consists in that hue and 
cry, as it were, which accompanied him through a great part of his 
life both in clamour and in print, that he was a Papist and a Jes- 
uit. I do not mean by this, that, had he been either the one or the 
other, he had therefore been an unworthy person ; but I must say, 
that if he had been a Papist, when he professed himself a Quaker, 
he would have been j'lstly chargeable \> ith hypocrisy ; and it is on 
this account that I am at all induced to notice the charge against 
him. Let us then see what evidence he has furnished himself, (for 
we need go to no other,) and this through an uninterrupted chain 
for years, on the subject. 

In the year 1668, in his work called " Truth Exalted," he con- 
siders the yeoman Catholic religion as one of those " which had 
been formed and followed in the darkness of apostacy.'' Again : 
" Whence," says he in the same work. •• came your Treeds but 
from factious and corrupted Councils dvcd in th*' blood of' those 
who refused conformity ? What Scriptures of t'-e holv Prophets 
and Apostles, or what Tradition foi the first three hundred rears, 
mention a Mass-book, speak of Pi tf. "s Chair and a successive 
Infallibility, or say a Wafer is corporally' the Flesh, Blood, and 
Bones, which suffered without Jerusalem } And where did they 
teach to adore Images, appoint holy Days, canonize Saints, chaffer 
and merchandize about indulgences^pray for the Dead, and preach 
01 write for a Purgatorj ?" 



ISO 3MrEM0IllS OF THE II»E 

Tn 1 670 he atfenopted to refute, in liis " Reasonable Caveat againsft' 
Popery," certain Doctrines of the Cliurch of Rome as tliej related 
to the' Scriptures — Prayers to Saints and Angels — Justification of 
J^jerits— Prajer In Latin — and other Doctrines and Customs be* 
longing to it. 

In 1675 he wrote " A Letter to a Roman Catholic,*' in \\hich 
we may notice this passage : •' They are Cbrisfs who take up his 
Ci »ss against the glory and spirit of this world, in which the Church 
of Rome lives. Rehold the pride, luxury, and cruelty which hath 
for ages been in that Church, even the Heads and Chieftains there- 
of 't is a mistake to tliink that to be Christ's Church, which has 
lost its heavenly qu lifications. because it once was. What is be- 
come of Ant ochj and Jerusalem, both Churches of Christ, and be^ 
fore Rome ?" 

In 1678 he made two speeches before a Committeeof the House 
of Commous. In the latter of tliese he speaks thus : " I solemnly 
declare in the presence of Almighty God and before you all, that 
Ve profession I now make and the Society I now adhere to have 
been so f;\r from altering that Protestant judgment I had, that I 
am n )t conscious to myself o!' having receded from an iota of any 
one principle maintained by those rirst Protestants and Reformers 
of (Germany, and our Martv rs at h.ouie, against the Pope and See 
o*" Rome." And further on in the same speech he says, "• We think 
it hard, that though we (Quakers) do deny in common with her 
(the Church of Knglaiul) those doctrines of Rome so zealously 
pr tested against (from whence the name Protestants), yet that 
"we should be so unhappy as to suffer, and that with extreme se- 
verity, by those very la^vs on purpose made against tlie maintain- 
ers of those doctrines which we do so deny." 

In 1679 he wrote " England's great Interest in the choic of a 
new Parliament." To promote this interest he recommends, 
among other tilings, " that care be taken that we be secured from 
popery and slavery, and that at the ensuing election only sincere 
Protestants sho«ld be chosen." In the same year he published 
^' One Project for the Good of England," in which he recommend- 
ed a certain public Declaration, as a mark of discrimination, by 
which all Protestant Dissenters might be enabled to prove that 
they were not Catholics. This Declaration, which he drew up 
liiiiiself, denied the Pope's right to depose any Sovereign, or ab- 
solve the subjects of such Sovereign from their allegiance. It de- 
nied him to he Christ's vicar. It denied a purgatory after death, 
transubstantiation in the Lord's Supper, and the lawfulness and 
efficacy of prayers to Saints and Images. 

Now if to these considerations we add the contents of that part 
of his letter to Dr. Tillotson in 1685, in which he refers the latter 
to other of his publications, (such as his " Address to Protestants," 
and to the first four chapters of his " No Cross, No Crown,") and 
also to his letter to Mr. Popple in 1688, in which he solemnly de- 
nies every individual circumstance brought forward to establish 
tlie charge against him, and soleinnly declares himself a ProtesC- 
ant, there will aot remain the shadow of a doubt, that there could 



<SVer liavc V>een any re<al foundation for the clamour of his predilec* 
ti n for Fopeiy, which occasioned him to be so unpopulac in the 
kingdom. Indeed the bare comparison (to use his own woids to 
Dr. Tillotson) of"' the most inceremonious and unworldly way of 
worship" of the Quakers with tlie *" pompouscultof the Catholics," 
would of itself aft'ord an aigument decisive of the point, unless we 
can suppose that William Penn dared, for some purpose not yet 
discovered, to act the part of a hypocrite, and this daily at the altar 
as it were of God, during a life accompanied by those outward 
circumstances, wliich are usually considered by the world as 
jnarks of superior purity and woi th. 

With respect to the charge of his having been educated at St. 
Omer's as a Jesuit, I might say, as he has said himself, that he 
was never at St. Omer's in his life ; but as the matter is so easily 
unravelled, it becomes me to do it. And here I may observe, that 
in all charges, whetlier a<>;ainst public or private men, there is aU 
ways a something which has given brth to them : there is usually 
a foundation for t'nem, though not always a good 0!ie. bo in the 
present case. William Penn, when he was sent to Paris by his 
father, left it, as has been before mentianed, to reside for awhile 
at an academy at Saiinmr, kept by Moses Amyrault, one of the 
greatest Frotestant divines of the age. Now this circumstance was 
rei)orted in Rngland, and unfortunate!}^ some one of those, who 
beard it mentioned, confounded Saiimiir with St. Omer. Of this 
mi-^take his enemies immediately availed themselves, and, there 
being then at tlie latter place a College for Jesuits, they directly 
inferred that he was one of that order. 

Among tlip writers who have thought disrespectfully of William 
Penn, or who have related matters which impiicate his moral char* 
acter. the first in order of time is the celebrated Bishop Burnet. 
And here I cann(»t hi-lp lamenting, how, on account of the infirmi* 
ty of our riat re. tlie best men are often warped by prejudices, so 
as to throw a shade upon actions capable of bearing the full light, 
Bisl'.op Burnet, as we have seen in these Memoirs, was at the 
Hague and in company with W illiam Penn, when the latter was 
endeavouring to prevail upon the Prince of Oran:.e to join with 
Kin» James in the abolition of 'I'ests for religion in the British 
reah\s. In consequence of this attempt Burnet took a prejudice 
againc'thim: and coupling with this circumstance the outcry of 
Papist 'id Jesuit., which induced him to suppose Penn a Roman 
Catholif. *he prejudice v/as only the more confirmed, and it was 
carried by bim through his whole work of" The History of his own 
Times." so that he has given us there almost all that was current 
against William Penn : but in no one part of it that I have read 
has he ever spoken ivell of him ^ even once. Of this prejudice the 
first extract I am to make will be in the minds of many not a des- 
picable proof. 

" Penn," says he, " had engaged him ('Steward) to come over 
(from Holland), for he had long been considered by the King 
(James) as the chief manager ofalltlie rebellions and plots that 
bad been on foot for tiiese twenty years past " This was in 1688. 
Now supposing Steward had been thus engaged b^- Penn, for wha<f 



13^ MSHOIRS QF THE Llf E 

was he so employed ? Not to detluone Kings, as one would natu- 
rally suppose from these expiessioas, not to stir up tiie flames of 
ciril war, but to promote, by Burnet's own confession, reiigioiis 
liberty in Scotland by the aboiitioti of Tests, This ivas the mig-hty 
crime. I do think therefore, tliat the observation '^ that Steward 
had been considered by t le King as the chief manager of all tne re- 
hellions and plots that had been on foot fur these twipjy years pasty ^ 
might have been spared on this occasion, even if it bad been true. I 
have now to observe, that when this same Steward, or rather Steu- 
art, was a fugitive in Holland with his brother Sir Robert, mention- 
ed in the preceding volume of this work, he was there in that situ- 
ation, not because he had done any thing in the way of plot or con- 
spiracy at home, but because, having refus d *o i^mmncftlie Cov^-^ 
nant when required^ being pe $e cited m ace .ant nf kis religion^ he 
determined to seek an asylum in foreign parts. 

I pass by the account given by Burnet for tbesame year without 
a,ny comment, in which he says '' that Father Petre and Penn en- 
gaged the King to it," that is, to renew the Declaration for liberty 
of conscience and to hold a Parliament in the November following, 
and come to a matter of a very serious nature. Speaking of the 
year 1690 he says, " The men that laid this design were the K^arl 
of Clarenden, the Bishop of Ely, the Lord Preston and his brother 
Mr. Graham, and Penn the famous Quaker." The design he informs 
us was to restore James. For this purpose Lord Preston was togo 
over to France to negotiate for military aid. One Ashton hired the 
vessel,and he and Lord Preston went on board in order to sail over r 
hut information having been s:iven of the plot, they were seized 
'vitii their papers, which consisted of letters to James from those 
■who had joined with Lord Preston in the design. The Bishop of 
Ely's letters were written in a verv particular style. Others were 
in Lord Preston's, and others in Ashton's.own Iiand-writing. The 
trial of the two latter commenced, and both of them were con- 
demned, and Ashton suftered. As to the oiher conspirators he ob- 
serves, " the Earl of Clarenden was seized and put into the Tow- 
er ; but the Bishop of Ely, Graham, and Penn, absconded." 

Now here are two charges against William Penn ; first that he 
assisted in laying the design ; and, secondly, when some who had 
been concerned in it were convicted, that he absconded. With 
respect to the first, had Burnet said that the names of the Bishop, 
of Ely, Penn, and Graham, were inserted in a Pr()clamation, dat- 
ed February the fifth, soon after the execution of Asiiton, on sus- 
picion of having been concerned in the design, the assertion would 
have been free from error. But it did not follow, 6<'CffMS^ ^Vil' 
Ham Penn was suspected^ that he was therefore guilty. It may be 
remembered, that in the early part of the former year he had been 
called before the King and Council, heiny; then susjiected of a trai- 
torous correspondence on account of an intercepted letter, winch 
James had written him. His reply was, " that tie could not help 
the King writing to him, if he the Kino:, choseso to do : and auiong 
other things, that thou!>;h he could not avoiil the suspicion of such a 
correspondence, he could avoid the guilt of it ; that he was willing 
t& repay King James's kindness to him by any private service i|i 



o]e wiLtiAM pfiNv:. iSiS 

his power ; but that lie must observe inviolably and entirelj that 
duty to the State, which belonged to all the subjects of it ; and 
therefoie that he had never had the wickedness to think of endeav- 
ouring to restore him to the Crown." This assertion was found 
afterwariis to be true ; for he was tried, and honourably acquitted 
of the charge. It may be remembered also, that in two months af- 
ter this he was apprehended again; but he could not help the sus- 
picion which led to this new apprehension, though a second trial 
showed that he had no concern in the guilt. So in like manner he 
could not liiiider Fuller from backing the accusation of Lord Pres- 
ton, which was to save hi^ own life, though he was entirely igno- 
rant of tlie plot. Not only was no letter found written by liira, 
nor any letter which even mentioned liis name, among tiie many- 
papers discovered, but he male i iprfar to the Kins; and Cuuncii 
in 1693, that he never hrd bct'u concerned in this or in any other at* 
tempt of the kind ; the immediate result of which was, his acquit'^ 
tat of the charge which had been brought against him. 

With respect to the otiier charge, that of absconding, it was not 
true, either in the sense of the word, or the manner in which it was 
used ; for absconding implies flight or concealment on account of 
guilt; and when the term is thus used by Burnet, and tlie name of 
William Penn is no more to be found in his work, the reader is led 
to imagine that he was no more heard of, and therefore that the 
guilt followed him. But how happens it, if he had been guilty and 
had absconded, that he was ucqiiitted in 1693 ; that /lis Government 
7vas restored to hvn in 1694 : that from 1694 to 1699 he. was trav- 
elling publicly both in England and Ireland as a n;inister of the 
Gospel ; that from 1699 to nearly 1702 he was acting on the spot 
in the high find cnnspic7ious character of ftovrnm' of Pennsyha- 
nia ; that in the latter year he was at the caurt of^ieen Anne ; and 
that after this period he enjoyed her personal friendship ? It was 
surely the duty of Burnet, when his History reached to the year 
1713, to have cleared up the reputation of W'illiam Penn. If be 
thought fit to say, that he had absconded in 1690 in consequence 
of having been concerned in the plot with the Lord Viscount Pres- 
ton, he ought to have said that he made his innocence appear in 
1693. He ought to have said also, that in the same year, in which 
the Proclamation came outa^^ainst William Penn, Fuller was vot- 
ed by the House of Commons a notorious impostor, a cheat, and a 
false accuser ; and that he was afterwards prosecuted by the At- 
torney-General on an Address from that House to the King, and 
that he was sentenced to the pillory. He ought to have stated 
again, that the same Fuller was prosecuted in ^^ King's Bench in 
1702, and convicted ajrain as an impostor ; and that for publishing 
certain libels he was sentenced to stand three tiuies in the pillory, 
to be sent to the house of correction, and to pay a fine of a thou- 
sand marks. A similar deficiency is observable in the same His- 
tory about two years before this period : for Burnet, M'hen speak- 
ing of the affair of tlie Fellows of Magdalen College, and this more 
particularly than any other writer, never mentions the noble inter- 
ference of William Penn, by which he dared to expostulate with 
the King concerning it. It would l»e in vain to tay tliirt he was ijf - 



4-S4 MEMOIR* OF THE LirB 

JBorant of it, when the suhject hnd excited such national attentton,. 
when tlie parties concerned were so numerous and ail oftherre 
above the c.immon rank, when the cause too being that of a struggle 
for liberty against Jamos, was one of the Bishop's own. and whea 
he knew better tban any other man, even to the minuteness of a, 
spy, what was ^oing on in all parts of the kingdom. Hence, by 
reason of such deficiencies*, the character of one of the best of 
men has gone down to posterity with some of the foulest blots. 

The next charges against hivn in the order of time are contained 
in the State Papers of Nairne. included in the two volumes of 
original papers published by Macpherson. Nairne had served a» 
Under Secretary to three successive Ministers of James after his 
retreat to France, and became acquainted in consequence with all 
the intelligence w'iich was sent from England in behalf of the ex- 
iled King. It appears in the first volume, that Captain William- 
son had been sent over to England as a spy to pick up all the in- 
formation he could, and to collect the sentiments and advice of 
James's friends, in favour of his Restoration. Having completed 
liis errand, he either drew up a Memorial and sent it, or carried 
it back with him, to France. It was dated December 1693. The 
memorial stated first the opinion of the Earl of Clarendon, which 
■was, that James's Restoration might be etlected, if the French 
King vvould send over to Enijland thirty thousand men for the 
purpose. It then went on to detail t!ie opinions of others on the 
same subject, such as of the Loi'ds Montgomery, Aylesbury. Yar- 
mouth, Arran, and others, till it came to that of William Penn* 
The latter wjs reported to have given I'.ls advice as follows : 
*' Mr. Penn says, that your Majesty has had several occasions, 
but never any so favourable as the present ; and he hopes that 
your Majesty will be earnest with the Most Christian King not to 
neglect it ; that a descent with thirty thousand men will not only 
re-establish your Majesty, but according to all appearance break 
the league ; that your Majesty's kingdoms will be wretrhed while 
the Confederates are united ; for while there is a fool in England, 
the Prince of Orange will have a pensioned Parliament, who will 
give him money." It appears also by the second volume, that 
"William Penn still continued plotting, and this for twenty years 
afterwards; for a letter, dated December 1713, and which was 
written in cyphers by Plunket, an Irish spy in England, to his em- 
ployers in France, was found among Nairne's papers as notifying 
the fact. It was the object of this letter to give an account of the 
various and secret intrigues then going on in England, and accord- 
ingly Plunket mentiongJ the names of those with whom he bad 
conversed on the subject of his mission. Suffice it say, that one 
of these, when decyphered, was put down as the name of Wil- 
liam Penn. 

T shall now reply to these charges. And first of all (setting 
aside the consideration, that they come through the medium of 

• It is i-emarkable, that subsequent historians, copyin? chiefly from Burnet have 
all omitted to mention William Penn's acquittal in 1693. though his rcstotation t9 
fiU Government and the being at Ixrge afterwards were 60 notoriousr 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 135 

«pies and informers, or of others who might gratify their employ- 
ers T>v intelligence the falsehood of which could not be detected at 
a di-huice,) are they in themselves credible? Is it possible that 
William Penn, as a Quaker, could ever have been either tiirectly 
or indirectly concerned in advice or transactions of this nature? 
Is it possible, after four accusations and four acquittals, that h$ 
would not have been singularly cautious of his conduct in tliis re- 
spect? VVas he never to learn wisdom ? And is it probable, how- 
ever well he might have wished even to the Restoration of James 
the Second, that he would have hazarded his life and reputation by 
extendinj^ his services (which must have been the casein 1713) to 
hiason fhe Frete)idet\ ivfiovi he could ripvev have seen after two months 
old ? Happily, however, we have in the dates of the charges them- 
selves the most ample means of refuting them : for in the vert/ 
month of Dpcember 1693, when the Memorial of the spy William- 
son makes William Penn crimina'lv advisio'j; in behalf of the Res- 
toration of James, he had establislied his innocence beftire the 
Kins; and Council of «// matter^! relating to ^haf subject up to that 
date ; and in t'le year 1713. w!ien the spy Plunket gave a similar 
account of him, he had lost in a great measure both his memori/ and 
understandings and, what is moie. he had been in that pitiable state 
for eighteen months before. Let it be remembered also, tiiat eight- 
een months prior to this latter charge, he was pronounced by the 
Crown-lawyers to have 6<'?jiiwca;jaMf' even of exet;uting the bargain, 
which he had made with the Government for the purchase of his 
Pennsylvanian concerns. 

The imputations against him, which follow next in tlie order of 
time, and which are trivial in comparison with the former*, come 
nearly to<>;ether, and from two persons of distinguished talents and 
character. George, the first Lord Lyttleton, whom I shall men- 
tion first, has introduced into one of his " Dialogues of the Dead," 
namely in that between Fernando Cortez and William Penn, in- 
sinuations too broad to be misunderstood, that the latter was sway- 
ed by worldly motives in his settlement of Pennsylvania. -It 

would almost be an insult to tlie understanding of the reader, if I 
were to attempt in any regular manner to disprove the charf^e, be- 
cause it must have appeared already in the course of this '^work 
that if there was a feature in the character of Williauj Penn more 
prominent than another, it was tliat of unbounded generosity in 

• I had occasion to obsprve but a little while a<ro, in examining the outcry of 
Papist and Ji-suie ap;ainst William Penn, that in all charjres, whether against publie 
or private men. there was always a something; which had given birth lo them, and I 
stated his education at Saumur to have a/Torded the orijjin of that outcry So'in the 
present case, having proved that he had no concern in the plots and conspiracies of 
which he had been accused, I have to state, that his open unsuspecting disposition 
(judging others by the stale of his own heart) led him at times to be too unguard- 
ed in his expressions, especially after the Revolution, when he had often thoseaboue 
him who were disposed to put tlie most unfavourable construction upon every word 
that dropped froi/» him. In consequence of this his unguarded state, which betray- 
ed a weakness though a virtuous one, it was no matter^|j|f;- surprise to many of hi« 
most attached friends, that he was, during several years, a consunt object of susi..'- 
cion with the. Government. •''' 

18 



l36 MKMOIRS OF THE LIFS 

the administration of his Province. Need I repeat that, when the 
first \ssemblv offered liim an impost on a variety of goods botli im- 
ported and exported (which impost in a course of years would have 
become a large revenue of itself) he nobly refused it — thus show- 
ing that his object in coming among them was not that of his own 
agi^rnnlizemcnt.^ but for ^\\e proinotion of a public good ? Need I 
repeat w'lat Oldmixon has saifl of him ? he, who was a furious Rev- 
olutionist, and wlio was strojjgl yprejudiced against liim on account 
of his former attachment to James the Second : " We siiall ni)t," 
says he, 'enter into any enquiry into the causes of tlse trouble that 
has been given Mr. Pi-nn lately about his province of Pennsylva- 
nia : it appears to !is by ivhat ivc have heard of it from others, for 
from himself we had never any information concerning it, that he 
has been involved in it hif his botvitif lo the Indians, his jsenerosity 
in minding the public affairs of t!)e colony more than his own pri- 
vate ones, his 'MHianj7</ to those who have not made suitable re- 
turns, his confidence in those that liave betr.iyed him, ami the rig- 
our of the severest equity, a word that borders the nearest to i;ijus- 
tice of any. 'Tis certainly tlie duty of this colony to maintain the 
Proprietary, wlio has laid out his all tor the maintenance of them in 
the possession of his Perritory, and the public in gratit ide ou2;ht 
to make good what they reap the benefit of." This is the only 
defence ! shall offer. I may ohservt', ho^vever, if any thing can be 
said in i istification of Lord l^yttleton, whose Dialogue betrays 
gross illiberality as well as ignorance of the Societv of the Quakers, 
that there was no history in ins time of William Penn, which gave 
an aco'iit of his American life; so that he could have known but 
little of tie sacrifices which the latter had made, or of the real mo- 
tives of his undertaking. I may observe also that circumstances 
had unforttinately conspired to give him an unfavourable impres- 
sion of the Quakers, and of those of Pennsylvania in particular. 
For he ha<l, a few years before, been the Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequi'r, and it was then a time of war. The Government at home, 
seei? g that the French had drawn over some of tlie Indian tribes 
on their side, wished the Pennsylvanians to raise a militia or to 
arm : but the \8sembly,of vi'hich a great part were principled against 
war, would not come into the measure. Their conduct on this oc- 
casion gave the Administration a great deal of trouble, It made 
them, therefore, very unpopular both with him and !iis friends in 
power. They were considered as the most refractory of all the 
Governments within tie British rule. From this refractoriness it 
was judged, either that the Quakers of Pennsylvania were not fit- 
ted to hold the reins of power there, or tiiat the Constitution of it 
gave a liberty that was incomi)atihle with the supposed interests of 
the Mother-Country. Hence, TiOrd Lyttleton was prejudiced in 
some measure against both, and by association of ideas against the 
man who was the founder of the one, and the associate in manners, 
habits, and principles with the other. 

The other writer alluded to, and the last whom I shall notice as 
having cast itnproper reflections upon William Penn, was the cel- 
ebrated Dr. Franklin in his " Historical Review of the Constitu- 



OF WILLIAM PEJv'N. 137 

tion and Government of Pennsylvania from its Origin," published 
in 1759. In this Ileview* we find, among others, the following. 

passages ; 

" At thp head of this Frame or System," sajs he," is a short Pre- 
liminary Discourse, a part of which serves to give us a more lively 
idea of V\ ijiiam i enr. preaching in Gracechurch-street, than we 
derive fioni kaphael's cartoon of Paul preaching at y\tliens. Aft 
aMan of ( onscience he sets out : a.-, a Mini of Reason he proceeds j. 
and as a Mun of the Worlds he offers tlie most plausible conditions, 
to all. to t.:e end that he might gain some.^^ 

'• Th.is Frame consisted of twenty -four articles, and savoured 
much i\i Harrington ana his (iceana.^^ 

"" But in t!ie f .Ihxwing year, tlie scene of action being shifted 
from tiie AJother-Ciujntry to the Colony, the deportment of the 
Legislator was s'lifteil too. Less of the JJan of God now appeared^ 
and mare of the .\an of the JfOrld.^^ 

'• One point he had already carried against the inclination of his 
followers, namely, the reservation of (^uit-Rents, which they had 
remonstrated aj^ainst as a burden in itself, and, added to the pur- 
chase-money, was with nt precedent in any other Colony ; but he 
artfiiUif distinguishing the two ca[iacities of Proprietary and Gov- 
ernor, and insinuating that Government must be supported irith 
S-flendour and dignity, and that hy this expedient they would be 
exempt from other taxes, the bait took, and the point was car^- 
ried."' 

I shall neither dwell upon the hitter spirit, nor the sarcastic man- 
ner, in which the above sentences were tlictated, nor upon the fol- 
ly of supposing that tlie idea of suppoTting Government with splen- 
dour cou'd ever have bsen held out by such a man as •' illiam 
Penn, or to such people as embarked with him in the scheme of his 
new Settlement ; but I shall proceed at once to the history of the 
Quit-Rents, that I may meet the most serious of the charges they 
contain. 

It lias already appeared, that when William Penn disposed of 
his land, he sold it at the rate of forty shillini^s foi- ewry hundred 
acres, but reserved a quit-rent upon itof one shilling annually. He 
had no power of parting with it legally in any other way : lor a» 
he held it of the t rown h'j o quit-rent himself, so they who bought 
it were obliged to hold it tn the smne manner, or tliey couM have had 
no legal title to their estates. 'I'he question then is, For whose 
use tJiese quit-rents were intended } It appears by all the grants 
I have seen, and one is now lying on my table, that no mention 
whatever is made in any of them either of Government or of the 
support of it. William Penn also signified under bis own hand, at 
the time of issuing these Grants, that any purchaseis of land 
" might buy them off, either (hen or atafuturr time, to an inconsid' 
erable matter " '1 hus. for • xamile, if a man's quit-ient amount- 

• He wrote it, thoug;h it was attributed to one Ralpb, to prejudice jHp people 
against the Proprietary-family, in rrder to effect a cbai'pe of Goven tHent 'nn: Pro- 
prietary to Royal ; which was afterwards attempted, Hut which to his great cha- 
grin failed. This failure laid the foundation of his animosity to Greet Britain^, 
which was se conspicuous afterwards. 



158 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

ed to ten shillings annually, he might bu}- it off within a penny or 
jess annually : but a penny or less annually was of necessity to be 
left to secure his title to his estate. Now, this ofl'er of seSlm;^ the 
quit-rents within a trifle never would have been made or allowed, 
xftheij had been fledged to the support of the Government. And 
here 1 may observe, that William Penn,in having done wliat I have 
stated him to do, only followed the example of other Colonies in 
the same part of the world. " Every planter," says Oldmixon, in 
his History of Carolina, " pays one penny an arre quit-rent, un- 
less he buys it q^'." In fact, whether we refer to Carolina or to 
Pennsylvania, the quit-rents were understood both b}' the seller and 
the purchasers to be soleh/foy the private nse and benefit of the for- 
mer. It was understood in Pennsylvania by both parties, that forty 
shillings paid down and one sliilling annually, was the considera- 
tion paid on the one hand (or a Inindred acres of land received on 
the other. This was the construction originally put upon the pur- 
chase ; and the same continued to be put till the year 1708, when 
the Assembly, in consequence of almost constant bickerings with 
the different Lieutenant-Governors, had fallen into two parties, 
the Proprietary and the Popular, the one for and the other against 
William Penn. Now it happened at this time, that the taxes had 
so increased as to be considered burdensome, and that the quit- 
rents (more land having been sold and located) had increased also. 
Then it was, and not till then, that the Popular part of the Assem- 
bly thought it would be an act of policy if they could turn these 
quit-rents to the support of the Government, or, in other words, to 
the ease of themselves and their constituents ; but they never even 
then asserted that they had any just claim upon them for this 
purpose, but only that it was but reasonable that they should be so 
applied. 

Having brought the matter to this period, T may now observe, 
that the idea of this appropriation of the quit-rents, when once 
started, was never dropped. It was so agreeable to many, and 
particularly of the popular party, that it was revived in all suc- 
ceeding Assemblies, and tliis so often, till it is supposed that some 
began at length to believe that the quit-rents were (as they M-ere 
then denominated) grievances, whicli they might sliake oft' at 
pleasure. But if the quit-rents were reputed grievances in the lile- 
time of William Penn, how much more so must they have been con- 
sidered after his death, when his heirs and successors, finding the 
value of land increased, would not allow the Land-Office to issue 
new Patents without increasing them, and this to four times their 
former value ! It was then that Dr. Franklin wrote his book ; and 
here it must be observed, that he was the Clerk and Printer to the 
Assembly, as well as a Member of it also, and that he M'as not of 
the Proprietary but of the Popular Party, and therefore that he par- 
took of the popular prejudices on the occasion. 

It was entirely through the same prejudiced medium that he gave 
an improper colouring to other of the proceedinjis of W^illiam Penn. 
Thus for example, I stated that the latter in the year 1700 ordered 
the Assembly to attend him at Newcastle, and not at Philadelphia 
as before, for that he thought it \\o\x\d be but fair, and that it would 



GF WILLIAM PEN-X. • 139 

be showin;^' hut a proper impartiality in hhn^ to suminon them to 
tlie principal town of the Territories in its turn. But this, says 
Di. Franklin, " u-asperhapa (inly to gratify the inhabitants of the 
Ti'rriiorics, at a time tchen eoctraordinavy demands ivere to be 
vuide upon ihem for the gratification of the Froprietary GovernorJ^ 
I stated also, that the Assembly in 1701 presented an Address to 
William Penii.coniainini;- twenty-one articles, in the first of which 
they requested him to appointa proper successor bef>re he left them 
forlOngland: and that his reply was, that he would take care to 
do it ; but, to show them haw much he u-ished to gratify them in 
this particular, tliat he would accept a JJeputy Governor uhom 
they might nominate thi mselves. Dr. Franklin allows that he made 
this oiler, but he adds, "' whether out of artifice or complaisance 
was hard to say.^^ It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the 
best of men may he run down, and the best of things may be per- 
verted, if treate! in this manner. 

it was through the same prejudiced medium, again, that Dr. 
Franklin, when he had selected the first of the twenty -one articles, 
just mentioned, to enable him to indulge his spleen still further a- 
gainst William Penn. omitted the mention of others, which it was 
a great dishonour to the Assembly to have proposed. But I shall 
decline going into these. I have no desire to lessen his just repu- 
tation. I have no desire to detract from the just merit of the As- 
sembly, who are to be applauded for many of their public acts, and 
for none more, in my opinion, than for their noble resistance to 
war. by refusing to contribute to its support. Nor am 1 desirous 
of elevating William Penn at the expense of either. 1 am bound, 
however, to defend his character, where ! think it has been injur- 
ed : and in doing this 1 must dwell still longer on the subject. It 
will be proper to show, that, w hatever changes took place in the 
Government of Pennsylvania, or dissatisfactions in the Assembly, 
with respect to him, they were generally to be attributed to his ab- 
sence from them; and that, though there were persons who disap- 
prove<l of his public measures, they had yet a great respect for 
him, and that this respect has been continued to his memory by 
the descendants of the same, even to the present day. 

It may perhaps be remembered, that, when King William or- 
dered the patent to be made out for restoring the Government of 
Pennsylvania to William Penn, he ordered it to be put into the 
preamble, that the disorders, which had appeared there, originat- 
ed principally in his absence from it. Few facts are more capable 
of proof than this. When lie was in America the first time, public 
alTairs went on, and this with a harmony so siw^ular., that histori- 
ans have thought proper to notice it ; but scarcely had his back been 
turned a year upon the Province, rvhen dissatisfactions began. In 
the beginning of 1686, being then in England, he complained over 
and over again of the tardiness of tlio council, that they could sel- 
dom he got together, and that they had neglected his letters as well 
as the collection of his quit-rents. For these and other reasons he 
found himself obliged to alter the Executive, that is, to take it out 
of the hands of eighteen, anfl to put it into the hands of five. Now 
this change could not but be displeasing to the thirteen ivho were 



140 MEMOIRS or THB LIFE 

displaced; for, besides the loss of their power, fhey would feel tlist 
they could not be consiilered as wiiolly faultless on tlio occasion. 
It appears, also, if the reader will tmn to his Ameiican life for this 
^ear, that he nominated JS'ie I lolas Mooie., wham I he Assembly had 
impeached, to the new Executive as an act of justice. This latter 
oircumstauce could not but give underage to the Assembly, and 
thus were laid the seeds of «iissatisfaction in both the le.<^isiativt 
bodies. Now. if William Penn had been in the Province, theie had 
been no neglect to complain of -dS it related to letter-., for there h.ad 
been none to write. There bad he.yii no ne^iectto complain o/'as it 
related to the collection of his quit-rents, for he would have seen 
to this himself: and, above all, ih"re had been no occasion to alter 
tlie Executive. With respeet to Nicholas M(»ore, t is highly prob- 
able that he had never be n impeached if William Penn had been 
upon the spot, because, as 1 iiad occasion to (observe in a former 
chapter, the open, candid, and impartial way, in v^hicli he con- 
ducted the Government when present, gave no opportunities for 
jealousies and suspicions ; and bi'cause !iis temperate and concilia- 
tory manners, and his readiness to hear and redress grievances, 
and his power so to do, healed th.em when produced. 

Having thus examined the -.idiiect for 1G86, 1 will follow it up 
through 1687 and 1688. in 1687 the same negligence continuing 
in the council, tliough reducetl in number, Williau) Penn was 
obliged to cliange the executive ag'iin, and to hring it into still fewer 
hands, that is, in the year 1688 into the hands oi a Deputy Gover- 
nor and two assistants. Now this change of itself would be dis- 
pleasing to some ; but the new Deputy Governor (Blackwell) !iad 
been in h.is po-t b'\t a short time when he him.self gave oSl-nce to 
others, indeed to the Assembly in general. But if William Penn 
had been on the spot, no Ih'putij Governor had bfen wanted^ and 
therefore all canst^s of displeasure Inid be^n cut off. And here I 
must desire the particular attention of the reiider to this latter 
change ; I mean to the creation of a Deputy Governor, an ap- 
pointment ar'sing ap|jarently out of the necessity of the case, be-: 
cause it wW unfold to him the causes of future dissatisfaction be-' 
tween NV'illiam Penn and the Assembly ; /«r /roju this moment 
mav be dated the rise of the two parties. Propyietartf and Populavy 
as before spoken of. The Meputy Governor had three distinct in- 
i!!erests to attend to. He had first, if I may use the expression, 
to fleece fir the King, then for himself, and lastly for the Proprie- 
tary, his emnlover. In taking care of the interest of the latter, 
the tendency would be rather In increase his power and abridge 
that of the Jlssembltf. But hnd W^illiam Penn resided in his Prov- 
ince as Governor, the situation of things had been widely differ- 
ent. There had at any rate been but two interests to look after 
iTistead of three. To the king he would have done his duty, as 
lar as his religious scruples permitted him ; and as to the Pro- 
prietary, he would have been far more unjust to himself than to 
the Assembly, as all his conduct towards them has abundantly 
proved. 

In this manner I might go on from year to year, showing that 
)hB absence was the great cause of all the misunderstandings be- 



OF WILLIAM penht. 441 

tvveen him and the Assembly, i)ut that it appears to me to be un- 
necessary- I shall therefore proceed to •^ho\v,tliat. notwithstanding 
these «!i Terences, his ineniory was held in veneration by the lat- 
ter, and not by these only, but by persons of all descriptions in 
the Province. 

Ft is worthy then of remark, that when Thomas one of the sons 
of William Penii, visited Pennsyivania in 1732, about fourteen 
years after his fat!ier's death, t'le Assembly presented him with 
an Address, vvhicii conttiined among others the following sentence: 
" Our long and ardent desires to s(^c one of our honourable pro- 
prietaries among us are now fulfilled ; and it is with pleasure we 
can say. Thou art arrived at a time when the Govern >.ent is in 
perfect tranquillity; and that there seems to be no emulation 
among us, but who shall, by a peaceable and dutiful behaviour, 
give the best proof of the sense they have of tfie blessings derived 
to ns under our late hononrahle Fvoprietary, your piffier, ivhose 
goodness to his people deserves ev^-r to be remembered with grati-^ 
tude and alfectlnn.^^ 

In the year 17o4 John Penn the elder brother of the former, 
and who had been born in Pennsylvania, arrived in the Province 
from England al-o. The Assembly presented him with an Ad- 
drt'ss in like manner, which began thus : " Excited by affection 
and gratitude, we cheerfully embrace this opportunity of congra- 
tulating thee on thy safe arrival at the place of thy nativity. 
When we commemorate the many benefits bestowed on the inhab- 
itants of t' is colony. //«« civil and religious liberties xve possess^ 
arn\ to whom these valunble privileges, undci- God and the King, 
are owing, we should be wanting to ourselves and the.n we repre- 
sent, did we not do justice to the memory of thy worthy ancestor, a 
man of principles truly humane, an advocate for religion and 
liberty. 

I shall pass over the addresses which were presented to each of 
these on their departure for England, in which similar expressions 
of love and gratitude were bestowed upon their father ; and 1 s!mll 
state at once, as an acknowledged fact in Pennsylvania, that not 
only was this the general feeling of the Assembly both then and af- 
terwards, but that there were none, who more affectionately ven- 
erated the memory of William Penn, than <he il«'scendant>* of those 
very persons, who at particular periods wore the loudest in their 
clamour agains-t him. Nay, if I mistake not, Ur. Franklin him- 
self was among those who highly respected him. The latter had a 
satirical way of expressing himself when he was not pleased, and 
therefore, when he found fault with William Penn, he could not 
get rid of his old habit : but the hostility he manifested was far 
more in manner tlian in heart. He was far more severe, and this 
in earnest, upon his grandsons, against whom he published a sRiall 
pamphlet, where, as if no other way had been left him to expose 
them, it is singular that he contrasted their conduct with the vir- 
tuous example of theii- noble ancestor. The little ludicrous motto, 
which he prefixed to this wnrk, and which was taken from John 
Rogers's Primer, may enable the rftader to judge in part of its con- 
tents : 



442 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

'• I send 3'ou here a little book 

That you may look upon, 
That you may see your father's facft, 

Now he is dead and gone." 

I sliall conclude by stating, that, when t'le statue of AVilliam 
Penn, already mentioned to have been erected to his memory at 
the seat of the late Lord Le Hespencer, was removed to PhiIadeI-» 
phia, the citizens received it with joy. They restored the pedestal, 
and, at the expense of many hundred pounds, put it up, and inclos- 
ed it by a proper railing on the lawn on the south side of the Penn- 
sylvania Hospital, where it now stands as a monument of their 
gratitude, and, through their zeal on the occasion,, as emblematical 
of tliat of the whoU province. 



• ■» -:r=- 



CHAPTER XXL 

View of him as a h^islntor upon Christian principles in opposition 
to those, of the policn of the world — und first as it relates to the 
governed — his general maxims of Government — superiority of 
these over others as to the extension of morals — mechanism of the 
Government of Pennsylvania — reputed excellence of it — one de- 
fect said to belong tu it — but this no defect at the time — removed 
by him when it became so — ht'nce the first trait in his character 
as a Christian legislator^ namely, his readiness to alter the Con- 
stitution with time and circumstances — second trait to be seen in 
his law for universal Toleration—reasons np'm ivhich it was 
founded — contrast beticeen it and the opposite one under political 
legislators — both as to principle and effect — this law the great 
cause of the rapid population of Pennsylvania — third trait to be 
seen in the abolition of the punishment of death, and in making 
the reformation of the offender an object of legislative concern — • 
comparison between this system and that of the sanguinary legis- 
lator of the world — noble effects of the former, as witnessed in its 
improved state at the present day. 

We have now seen what William Penn was in Ins passage 
through life, both as a private and as a public person, and I have 
not been sparing in bringing forward what were the reputed imper- 
fections in his character. There is yet another view, which we 
may take of him, and where posterity have raised their voices in 
his favour. This vv'ill be found in the important station which he 
filled as a legislator, or rather as t!ie founder and supporter of a 
Government upon C/^ris/irt.»j prj'?tci/7/es in opposition to thoseofthe 
policy of the world. A view taken of a person acting in such a 
situation, and under tb.e influence of such principles, must, I a])- 
prehend, not only be interesting of itself, but also on account of 
its novelty ; for tUex-e i? no Government, no code of law or juris- 



OF WILLIAM i'il'MS. i48 

prudence in Europe, though almo<*t all Europe is called Christendom, 

which has been raised uponsuc'iaroundation. The different Govern- 
ernmcnts of Europe had theiriieginningbeforeChiistiaiiity appeared. 
Hence, they were built upon Heathen notions, or false honour and su- 
perstition. All we can say of t!ie best of them is, that, as the light of 
Christianity arose, certain barbarous customs ar.d certain vicioiRs 
principles of legislation were done away, aiid thatot'iers weresidDsti- 
tuted by degrei s, which were more pure, more benevolent, and moi-« 
congenial with tlie religion which was outwardly profes-icr; : butther© 
is no one of these at the present day, which was foun(l«;d original- 
ly upon Christianity, or which, notwithstanding its improvements, 
has attained to a Christian m(»del. There is a strange mixture of 
Jewish, Papal, and Heathen notions in their respective codes. Wil- 
liam Penn therefore had an opportunity in tiiis respect, which but 
few have had, and those only of modern times. He had the power 
of forming a Government afresh, by carrying over a number of 
Christians, who were sensible of the vicious parts of the old Gov- 
ernments, to a new land. '• This land he so desired to obtain and 
to kepp, as that he might not be unworthyof God's love, buf do that 
which might answer his kind providence, and serve his Truth and 
People, that an exaujple might be set up to tlie nations ; tliat there, 
was room there (in America) though not here (in England) for 
such an holy experiment." It is then under the sublime character 
of a Christian legislator, that I am now to view him. By a Ciu-is~ 
tian legislator I mean one, who models !iis public actions and founds 
his laws, as far as his abilities permit, on the letter and spirit of the 
Gospel, having but one end in view throughout, the happiness of 
the governed, which happiness is to be produced only tlnough 
means strictly moral, and by the improvement of their mora! con- 
dition, and adoptino;, as it relates to aliens or foreigners, principles* 
of action pure in themselves, founded in justice, of the same ten- 
dency with those established for the governed, and promotive of 
the same end. 

The general notions of William Penn as they relate to the gov- 
erned have already appeared in tlie course of these Memoirs, and 
when collected may be stated thus : He believed that Government 
was of divine origin, and a part as it were of Religion itself. It 
had two objects ; to terrify evil-doers, and to cherish those thatdid 
well. So long as it kept faithfully to these, it had a life beyond 
corruption. The excellence or imperfection of it depended upon 
the excellence or vicicusFiess of men. Governments, says he. de- 
pend upon men rather tlian men upon governments. Like clocks, 
they go from the motion wiiich men give tliem. Let men be good, 
and the Government cannot be bad. If it be ill, they will cure it! 
But if men be bad, let the Government be ever so good, they will 
endeavour to warp and spoil it to their turn. Some Avere of opin- 
ion that if they had good laws, it was no matter what sort of men 
they were who executed them : but such ought to consider, that 
though good laws did well, good men did much better ; for good 
laws might want good men, and be abolished or invaded bvill men; 
hut good men would never want good laws, nor sutler ill ones. A* 
to the constitution or mode of a Governuieut, anv kind of Govern- 

19 



144 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE^ 

meJit was free to the people under it, whatever was the frame, where 
the laws ruled and the people were a party to those laws; and more 
than this was tyranny, oiigatchy, or confusion. The Constitution, 
howev«ir, and the manner of conducting it ought tobe such as to sup- 
port power in reverence with the people and to secure the people from 
the ihuse of power, that they might be free by their just obedience, 
and the MaiJ;istrates I onourable for their just administration ; for li- 
berty without obedience was confusion, and obedience without lib- 
erty was slavery. They who conducted it, were to see with their 
own eyes and hear with their own ears. They were to cherish no 
informers, to use no tricks, to fly to no device to cover injustice, 
but to be uyinu;at hefore the Lord, trusting in him above the con- 
trivances of men. With respect to the duration of a Government, 
he laid it down that nothing weakened it or brought it to an end 
like vice. No Governsnent could maintain its Constitution, how- 
ever excellent it was, without the preservation of virtue. King- 
doms were rarely as short-lived as men ; yet they also had a time 
to die ; and as temnerance gave health to men, so virtue to a king- 
dom ; and as vice brought men betimes to the grave, so nations to 
their ruin. Notliing was plainer to him, than that as parents left 
the government at tl'eir death, their children would find it It was 
far better thai^ the world ended with the parents than these should 
transmit their vices, or should sow those seeds which would ripen 
to the ruin of their cliildren, and fill their country with misery 
■w!ien they themselves were gone. Hence he was of opinion, that 
one of the most important matters in which a State could be eiua- 

fed was the education of those who were born in it. " TliJit," says 
e, " which makes a good Constitution, must keep it, namely, men 
of virtue, and this can only be done by a virtuous education of the 

youth." These were the general sentiments of William Penn 

witn respect to Government. I need hardly observe, that they 
differ from tliose which are generally entertained at tlse present 
day. !♦ is usually thought, that the abuses of a Government are 
best rectified, or its model best perfected, by changing the Gover- 
nors, or by altering the corrupt parts of its Constitution. William 
Penn, it appears, thought otherwise. He thought they were best 
rectified l)y changing, or removing the corruptions of, the people. 
He not only makes the durability of a Government, but its intrin- 
sic excellence, both as to form and administration, to depend upon 
the improvement of the morals of the latter. These his sentiments 
were certainly the most congenial with Christianity ; for though a 
good Government may make a good people, tlie empire of virtue 
would be much more considerably enlarged, and much more firmly 
established, by actio? upon the one than upon the other system. 

The first subject asit relates to the governed, which affords us the 
means of contemplating the character of William Penn as a Chris- 
tian legislator, will be found in the mechanism or structure of his 
own particular Government of Pennsylvania. We have already 
seen the c )nstituent par's of it. It consisted of a Governor, a 
Council, and an Asso.mbl' . the two last of which were to be chosen 
by, avd therefore to be the Representatives of ^ the People. The Gov- 
ernor was to be perpetual President, but he was to have but a treble 



OF WILIIAM FENN. 145 

voie. It was the office of the Council to prepare and propose Bills, 
to sec that the laws were executed, to take care of the peace and 
safety of the Province, to settle the situation of ports, cities, market* 
towns, roads, and otlier public places, to inspect the public Treas- 
ury, to erect Courts of Ju.stice, to institute schools for the virtuous 
education of youth, and to reward the authors of useful discovery. 
J\"ot less than two thirds of thes? were necessary to make a quo- 
rum, and the consent of not less than two thirds o^such quorum in 
all matters of moment. The Ass^irblv were to have no delibera- 
tive power, but, wlien Bills were brnugnt t-.i t'iom from the Gover- 
nor and Council, to pass or reject t'lem bv a plain Yes or No. They 
were to present SiieriiJ's and Justice* of the Peace to the Governor, 
a double number for his choice of ia!f. They were to be chosen 
aniwallij^ and to be cliosen hi/ sicret ballot. 

Such, in few words, w.ts the Constitution, as organised by Wil- 
liam Fenn. VvHien it came out, it excited much conversation, and 
Avas considered by good and wise ...en not only as admirable in it* 
self, but as excelling all tiie models which had been adopted in the 
other American colojiies*. It appears by what has been said that 
the People had an exti-.iordinary simre in the Government. Though- 
Bills were to he proposeil only bv t'le Council, the laf'er could 
scarcely introduce to the Assembly such as would become obnox- 
ious, because a small minority could stifle them in their very birth. 
The fiiembers of the Asse:nbly could not set their constituents at 
defiance or <lo injury to the State for any iength of time, for they 
were only in office for a year ; nor could constituents on the other 
hand, the elections being secretly conducted, be overawed in their 
votes, or give oftence to their own detriment by the same, or lose 
the opportunity of choosing those who they thought would serve 
their country best. One defect, however has been said to belong to 
the Constitution as now described. The Assembly it h.is appeared, 
had no power to propose Bills, nor had they any deliberative power 
over those which were sent to them. This exclusion of them from 
the privileges of the Council has been complained of as a great- 
oversight in William Penn. It has been considered as an unneces- 
sary infringement upon freedom, and as depriving the State of the 
talents of mariy who might have served it. To this however it may- 
be replied, that William Penn adapted his Constitution to existing 
circumstances, and that he considered certain parts of it merely as 
parts for trial. Men, who had houses to build for immediate shel- 
ter, lands to clear and cultivate for immediate support, roads to 
construct, and provision to make against all the accidents to which 
new settlements in a wilderness were liable, had but little oppor- 

• We have a remarkable instance of the candou* of Locke upon tliis subject. 
Locke, it is well known, drew up at the request of Lord Shaftesbury a Form of 
Government for Carolina, which then comprehended both the northern and south- 
ern districts of that name. It happened that he and William Penn. and Mr. (af- 
terwards Sir Isaac) Newton, and others, were in company, and that the conver,.-a- 
tion turned upon the comparative excellence of the New American Governments, 
but pHrticulariy of those of Carolina and Pennsylvania. The matter was at length 
arjjued in the presence of the two legislators, when Lojke ingenuously yielded the 
•calm to Penn on the occasion . 



146' MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

tunity for legislation or time to waste in debate. It was far better 
for the Province, that William Penn, who bad studied the subject, 
and who was a man of great resources, should take upon hiniselt, 
in conjunction with a few, in this itifancy of things the proposal of 
what was necessary : an-l this was the opinion of that great and 
libtr )1 lawyer Sir William Jones, then Attorney-General, a aian 
who would rather have given new ri^'hts to almost any extent, than 
have withheld the least, if any such coull have been conducive to 
a good end. It throws no small weight into the scale to say, that 
this e'xcellent person both revised r.nd approved of the Constitu- 
tion of William Penn. as it was oiiginally o3"( red. Tiie alle^^ed de- 
fect then was no defect at the tinic : hut wlien it became so it was 
removed ; for it must he brouiibt to the recollection of the reader, 
that in about fourteen years after this time, namely, in IG96, when 
houses had been erected iii num!)ers. lands had been cleared to a 
considerable extent, many difficulties and impe !iments removed, 
and men began to have leisure, so that the Assembly found that 
tliey could exercise the privilege v.iiich had been denied them, and 
were desirous of so doin'^, William Penn sanctioned an alteration 
of the Constitution to tliis end, by giving them the power of pre- 
paring and proposing whatever Bills they were of opinion would 
tend in their operation t;> the public good. Let it be brought also 
to his recollection, that in the year 1701, when the constitution 
was again altered, he confirmed the privilege. For this h.e obtain- 
ed something like an encomium from an ojiponent. " On the oth- 
er hand," says Dr. Franklin, in his ' Historical View of the Gov- 
ernment of Pennsylvania,' " the Assembly, who could not pro- 
pound laws, though they might amend or reject them, ivere put in 
possession of that privilege, and upon the whole, there was much 
more room for acknowledgments than complaints. How much so•^ 
ever the Governor had grown upon Mr. Penn, aiKl how much so- 
ever his concern for others had worn off when raised to a sphere 
above them, it is plain he had not forgotten his own Trial, nor the 
noble Commentary upon Maona Charta, which in his tiact called 
* The People's ancient and just Liberties asserted' he had upon 
that occasion made public, wherein he says, " that there were but 
two sorts of Government, namely. Will and Power, or Condition 
and Contract ; that the first was a Government of Men, the sec- 
ond of Laws : that univeisal Reason was and ought to be among 
rational beings universal Law ; that of Laws some were fnndamen' 
tal and immutable ; some temporart/j made for prenent convenience, 
and for convenience to be changed : that the fundamental Laws of 
England were of all laws most abhorrent of Will and Pleasure ; 
and that till houses should stand v/ithout their own foundations, 
and Englishmen ceased to be Englishmen, they could not be can- 
celled, nor the subjects deprived of the benefits of them." 

It will appear then, from the view 1 have taken of v*'hat has been 
consideied as a defective part of his Government, that he deserves, 
first, the character of a wise Legislator by the adaptation of his 
system to e.vistins^ circumstances, and, secondly, that of a virtuous 
one by his iviUingness to relinquish a part of it ivhen a new sitmi- 
Hon of things rendered it desirable. If the end of Government be 



»F trixriAM PKNfrT 147 

the general happiness — and if its excellence, the happy manner of 
its administration, and its durability, depend upon virtue — then it 
is the dutv of a (liristian (iovernoi- to be willinv. to pioinote every 
cl'.ange which may conduce to the improvement of the rational lib- 
ty or of the moial condition of the governed, t know ot ii(» in- 
stance where a Lef!;islator can display his Christian character t<y 
more advantage than in tliis ; and it was in this that William Penir, 
so emincHilv siione. He was always willins; to change for the bet-, 
ter, always wiliin;;- to alter rationally with the times. In I6H3 he 
told the Assembly. '• that they niiglit amend, alter, or add, for the 
public good : and tiiat he was ready to settle such foundations with 
them as might be for their happiness, according to the poweis vest- 
ed ill him." In 1701, when he was about to leave them to j^o td. 
England, he exhorted them, " seeing all Mien were mortal, to think 
of some suitable e:?cpedient for their safety as well in their privi* 
lege^ ;is in their property, and to review again their Laws, and 
propose new ones Uiat might better suit their circumstances." 
llerf" then lies the diftereiice between the Chr'stian Statesman and 
the Politician of the World. The former, loving Virtue, wilt be 
pliant and idwaya ready to obey its call. The latter, loving Forver^ 
ivill he unwilling to part with it. Can any thing he more obvious 
than that, as the moral and political states of kingdoms change, 
the Laws of the same should in some measure be changed also; or 
that Laws passed in the days of ferocity, ignorance, and supersti- 
tion, are unfit for a civilized people ? And yet how obstinate have 
political Goveinors been in retaining them, thoi!<rh they them- 
selves have acknowlcdiied them to be useless ! Hence letters of 
blood though dead letters in themselves, continue to stain the Stat- 
ute Books even of enliglitened Legislatures to the present day. 

The next opportunity we sliall have of seeing William Penn in 
the character of a Christian Legislator in opposition to that of the 
Legislator of the World will he in the examination of some oi" his 
La" s. Among thesf- I cannot but notice, and prior to all others, 
that noble one which related to Liberty of Conscience, or universal 
Toleration of Faith and Worship. The arguments by wiuch he 
was iiifiuenced on this subject have already appeared ; but as they 
lie scattered in different parts of the Work, \ shall collect them, 
and brino; them under one point of viev/, that we may see more 
distinctly tlie foundation on which it stood. It w^as, be conceived, 
the prerogative of God alone to preside in matters of religious 
Faith. God alone was the Judge of Conscience. All mistakes a- 
bout religion were knr)wn to him only. Hence earthly Governors, 
thoifjib it was both their interest and their Antv to support Reli- 
gion, had no rijiht to erect a tribunal whereby to make themselves 
jud^'es of religious Faith. They AVfre the Kings of m'Mi but not of 
consciences. Tl ey ha"d nothing to do with men but as civil sub- 
jects, such as adulterers, thieves, murderers, and those whose prin- 
ciples were subversive of industry, fidelity, justice and obedience. 
Those, on the other hand, who lived soberly and honestly, who 
gave no offence to otliers, and obeyed all Laws of a civil and mor- 
al nature, were entitled, notwitlistandinga difference of creed, to 
their protection. But if the said Governors, who were fallible 



148 MEitroiRs ©r the life 

men, established propositions as Articles of Faith and as bonds of 
Christian communion, (propositions formed by their own fallible 
interpretation of the Scriptures,) and excluded those from civil 
privileges who could not conscientiously conform to them, and 
moreov*»r subjected them to severe penalties and punishments for 
this tlieirnjnconformi* J thereto, then the said Governors were guilty 
of the cnme of usurping the prerogative of Heaven. Such conduct 
on the part of the Governors was, besides, unreasonable. It was 
unreasonable to punish any man in this world about the things 
■which belong to the ne.xt. It was unreasonable again, because 
the mind of man could not be convinced by other arguments than 
those which were adequate to its own nature. Fines and impris- 
onnents could never be fit punisiiments for faults that were 
purely intellectual. It was, besi.les, presumptuous ; because na 
Governor could say that his own was the true Faith. It was also 
unjust; for nothing could be more unjust than to sacrifice the 
liberty an<l property of any man, where he was not found breaking 
any law which related to natural or civil things. it was a war 
against pious living, which ouiiht to be the only test of the value 
of tnen as moi^al beings. It was pure oppression, first, because it 
attempted to prevent what was never likely to happen ; for a di- 
versity of religious opinions never yet endangered a State : and, 
secondly, because it always missed of its end; for force might 
make hypocrites, but could never make converts. Violence never 
made a true convert, nor bodily punishment a sincere Christian. 
Lastly, such conduct was against both the letter and the spirit of 
the Christian religion. In no part of Divine Writ could it be 
found, that Christ or his Apostles had laid down Articles of Faith 
as necessary for Christian communion, and they were not v/anting- 
to declare the whole counsel of God to the Church. Christ, on 
the other hand, prohibited all force in producing an uniformity of 
religious opinion. He reproved the /.eal of those who would have 
called down fire from heaven on the Saniaiitans, because the latter 
>would not receive him. He opposed them again, wh mi on seeing a man 
casting out devils in his name they forbade him, because be would 
not follow them. He directly took oft" the prohibition ; thus re- 
versing the judgment they had given. He said expressly, at an- 
other time, that there were not many masters in his church, but 
one. He desired that the tares and the wheat might be allowed to 
grow up together till the harvest. The Apostles conducted them- 
selves in the same manner. Thay used no carnal weapons in the 
propagation of their religion. Their swords were all of them spi- 
ritual, and it was by these that they overcame. They inculcated 
also the same doctrine. Who art thou, says the Apostle Paul, 
who judgest another man's servant ? They recommended Love 
or Charity as the most noble of all the Christian dutic*, and the 
most worthy of the character of their divine Master. Christ came 
to us in Love. He died, and died for us also, in love. His relig- 
ion was founded in Love. It commanded us also to do as we 
would be done by. Thus we were T\ot lo hate, persecute, and op- 
press each other, and much less for a mere difference in religious 
Faith. 



OF WILLIAM PENH. 14g, 

These then were the arguments by which the mind of William 
Penn was influenced on the subject ot" religious Liberty ; and 
Jkiiowiiig how essential such liberty was to the liap|jiuess ot man- 
kind, and wliat man was capable of under tlie Uoaiimon of bigo- 
try and superstition, he dared not as a Christian, when he had a 
new state to form, do otiierwise tliati establisa an universal 1 oler- 
ation there. This he did in tiie most ample mauiier. Jews, lurks. 
Catholics, Presbyteiiaus, and p>jople ol all persuasions in reunion, 
Avere to be entirely free both as to their Faiti; ana VVorship, whue 
they conducted themselves properly as citizens. " Because,'^ 
says he, '* no people can be truly happy, though under tiie great- 
est enjoyment of civil liberties, if abridged of the freedom ot taeir 
consciences as to religious profession and worship ; and Almighty 
God being the only Lord of Conscience, Father of Lights and 
Spirits, and the Author as well as Object of all divine knowledge, 
faith, and worship, who only doth euligiiten the mind, and per- 
suade and convince the understanding of people, I do hereby grant 
and declare, that no person or persons inhabiting this Pi oviuce or 
Territories, who shall confess and acknowledge one Almighty 
God, the Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of the World, and profess 
him or themselves obliged to live quietly under the civil Govern- 
•ment, shall be in any case molested or prejudiced in his or their 
person or estate because of his or their conscientious persuasion or 
practice, nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any religioui 
worship, place, or ministry, contrary to his or their mind, or to do 
or suffer any other act or tiling contrary to their religious per- 
suasion." And so impressed was he upon this subject, as a mat- 
ter of Christian duty, that he determined in his Charter that the 
ebove law should be one of those which were never to be changed. 
" And because," says he, " the happiness of mankind depends so 
much upon the enjoying of the Liberty of their consciences as 
aforesaid, I do hereby solemnly declare, promise, and grant, for 
me and my heirs and assigns, tliat the first lU'ticle of this Ciiarterj 
relating to Liberty of Conscience, and every part and clause 
therein, according to the true meaning and intent thereof, shall 
be kept and remain, w ithout any alteration, inviolably for ever." 

Here then we^ee him again under the sublime light of a Chris- 
tian Legislator, making Liberty of Conscience the grand corner- 
stone of his civil edifice. What a contrast does this afford to the 
conduct of those who have legislated in this department on the po- 
licy of the world ! Th.e one appears to have been actuated by the 
spirit of Love, Mercy, and Peace; the others by that of Pride, 
Presumptijousness, and Revenge. And as the contrast is great 
between them as it relates to the principle of Legislation on this 
subject, so it is equally great as it relates to its effects. Behold 
in the one case happiness diffused throughout the land, and on the 
other misery and ruin ; behold imprisonments, burnings, deaths in 
various shapes, so that volumes are filled with the cries and groans 
of martyrs ; in the survey of which one painful reflection cannot 
but present itself to our minds, namely, that these sufferings were 
not confined to the instrumentality of men who worshipped in. 
Heathen temples, nr in the Roman Catholic church. 



ISO MEMOIRS OF TtlE LIFE 

Nor v/ill the contrast be less, if we look at the effects of the 
two systems in anotiier point of view. Is it or is it not true, that 
thousands and tens of thousands have left tlieir respective coun- 
tries in consequence of the fear of persecution for reliu;ion ? and 
is it or is it not true, that thousands and tens of tliousands flock- 
ed, on account of the prospect of relii^ious iibertv, to the land of 
William Penn ? Indeed it is to this great principle in his Gov- 
ernment, and to tiiis principally, that historians have attributed 
the rapid population of his colony, rapid almost beyorul credibili- 
ty, and certainly beyond example*. Anderson, in his "Histori- 
cal and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Commerce," 
when speaking of Pennsylvania, writes thus : " Tlie same year 
gave rise to the noble English colony of Pennsylvania in North 
America. Mr. William Penn. an eminent Quaker, and a gen- 
tlemen of great knowledge and true philosophy, had it granted to 
him at this time. 'He carried thither with him a large embarka- 
tion of Quakers, afterwards from time to time joined by manj 
more from Britain and Ireland. On his first arrival there hs found 
many f^'nglish families in it, and considerable numbers of Dutch 
and Swedes, who all readily submitted to his wise and excellent 
regulations, which highly merit to be known to all persons who 
^ould apply to colonizing. The true wisdom an well as cifmty of 
his unlimited toleration of all relis^ioii'i persunsiona, as well as his 
kind, just, and prudent treatment of tlie native Indians, also his 
Laws. Policy, and Government, so endeared him to the planters^ 
and so widely spread the fame of his whole fficonomy, that, al- 
thoiis^h so lately planted ^ it is thought at this day (about the year 
1760) to have more white people in it. than any other colony on alt 
the continent of English America, New England alone excepted." 
Edmund Burke, in his '• Account of the European Settlements in 
America," speaks much in the same manner. " Neither was 
William Penn himself wanting in anything which could encour- 
age them ; for he expended large sums in transporting and find- 
ing them in all n-^cessaries ; and not aiming at a sudden profit, 
he disposed of his land at a very light purchase. But what crown- 
ed all was that noble charter of privileges, by which he made them 
as free as any people in the world, and which has since drawn 
such vast numbers of so many different persuasions and such va- 
rious countries to put themselves under the protection of his laws. 
He made the most perfect freedom, both religions and civil, the 
hasis of his establishment ; and this has done more towards the set- 
tlement of the Province., and towards the settling of it in a strong 
and permanent manner, than the wisest regulatio7is con'd have done 
on any other plan. All persons, who profess to believe in one God, 
are freely tolerated. Those who believe in Jesus Christ, of what- 
ever denomination, are not excluded from employments and 

* William Penn laid out the plan for Philadelphia in 1682. He died in 1718. 
In this latter year Philadelphia contained about 1400 houses, and 10,000 inhabi- 
tants, and his dominions altosfether, about fiO, 000 people. In 17i0. when An- 
derson's book came out, there were about 3000 houses in Philadelphia, 20,000 
inhabitants,, and altogethej: in towns, citiss, and cour.try, 200,000 people. 



posts." Jediiliah Morse, in his "American Geography/' throw* 
out i senti-nent to the same purport. '• By tlie favourable term* 
which Mr. Penn offered to settlers, and an unlimited toleration of 
all religions denominations, the population of the Frovincf wasea> 
tremdy rapid.'''' I may quote also John Gough on the occasion, in 
his " History of the People called Quakers from their first Rise to 

the present Time." *' That the u elfare," says he, '•'• and hap* 

piness of the people is the end of Goveratncnt, is a proposition 
maintained in theory in other States, but in Pennsylvania it was 
reduced to practice. A Government established on so equitable, 
liberal, and useful a plan induced g^eat numbprs of people of dif- 
Jerent persuasions to emigrate from various countries to yartici^ 
pate in the privileges and felicity of this equal Government, the 
basis of which teas re igious and civil liberty : and for a length 
of time, under t!ie pleasing sensati(m of the ease, security, and 
change for the better, which they felt from their removal hither^ 
people of different nations, complexions, and tvays of thinking liv» 
ed together in a state of society beautiful in prospect, and happj 
enjoyment in mutually giving and receiving the benefit of an 
equality of privileges in peace, amity, and benevolence, altho gh 
not belonging to the same visible church, yet as belonging to the 
same fraternity of mankind." 

Another survey of William Penn as a Christian Legislator may 
be taken from the consideration of some of his criminal laws. 
There are two, which particularly claim our notice upon this sub- 
ject. The first of these abolished the punishment of death, except 
in the case, where " whosoever shed man's blood, by man should 
his blood be shed." The second ordained, that all prisons should 
be ivorkshops. By these two laws it is obvious that he afforded a 
Christian pattern for legislation, for one of the principles upon, 
which he proceeded therein, was the reformation of the offender. 
By taking away his life, all hope of this was destroyed. By spar- 
ing it, opportunity was given him for amendment, and this pppor- 
tunity was to be improved by tlie introduction of habits of in^u» 
try. The author of " The Picture of Philadelphia," in speaking 
of the first of these laws, writes thus : '* The humanity of William 
Penn revolted at the sanguinary punishments of Britain, and he 
therefore attempted an amelioration of the penal code. He abol- 
islied the ancient oppression of forfeitures for self-muider, and 
deodands in all cases of homicide. He saw the wickedness of 
exterminating, where it was possible to reform. He endeavoured, 
therefore to prevent the operation of the systeni, which the Char- 
ter imposed, and amongst the first cates of his administration was 
that of forming a small, concise, but complete code of criminal 
law. Murder •.\ilful aiid pri meditated is the only crime for which 
the infliction of death is prescriljed. and this is declared to be 
enacted in obedience to the laws of God, as though there had not 
been any political necessity even for the punishment : but no man 
could be convicted but upon the testinioiiv of two witnesses. Exe- 
cution also was to be staved, till the record of conviction had been 
laid before the Executive, and full opportunity given to obtain a 
pardon for the offence." These wei e undoubtedly the sentiment* 
20 



J5S MEMOIRS OF THie LI?E 

of William Penn. He saiv, as this author observes, the wicked' 
ness of extermi Hitting, where it teas possible to vform. He con- 
sidered the punishment of death, in all other cases but murder, as 
barbarous botli in its oripu, its manner, and its eftects. He con- 
ceived there icas no ivarrnnt in Christinntty to legislators to take 
away life at alt. The great end ot punishment was undoubtedly 
to deter, or to prevent others from ttie co^mtission of crimes ; but, 
on the other hand, it was tlie great object of the C 'hristian reliijion 
to reclaitn. Christ canie principallv tor this purpose upon earth. 
He came to call sinners to repentance. He came, not to destroy.^ 
but to save. There was more joy in Heaven over one sinner that 
repented, than over ninetj-nine just persons, who needed no re» 
pentance. He conceived, therefore, that it was the duty of a 
Christian legislator so to blend both th'^se objects, that tbev might 
go hand in ha:.d togetlier ; and he was convinced, that they Mete 
compatible with each other, because there were other modes of 
punishments, which would deter equally with that of death. Here 
then we are enabled to compare him again with the legislator on 
the policy of the world. How mean and little, how wanting in 
generosity and intellect, does the lat.ter appear beside liim ! He 
consigns hundreds of his fellow-creatures to an untimely death, 
and this for an hundred offences. His system embraces no one 
principle that is amiable. It has no vitals— no bowels, — it discov- 
ers no feeling for his fellow-man ; no brotherly love towards him ; 
no reu;ard for him as a rational and moral being ; no concern for 
his eternal interests. It views him only as a beast, whom, if he 
be noxious, he must destroy ; because, having no reason, he has 
not that, by which he can either be d'.^terred or reclaimpd. 

It is not necessary that I should enter into a comparison be- 
tween the merits of tiie two systems. It will be sufBcient to show 
the effectsof that which was suggested by WilPam P«?nn. These 
however we shall rot be able to see. until we know bow the two 
laws, which gave birth to it, were afterwards improved upon, and 
to what length they were carried. I mav ohseive th.en, that they 
were both of them in use in Pennsylvania till tl^e reign of Queen 
Anne. In the year 1705 she abolished the merciful one which spar- 
fd t')e li^p of the criminal on so manv occasions, as not consonant 
with the English law. She restored it however shortly afterwards, 
and prol>ably at the intercession of William Prnn.and it continu- 
ed in force for many years, or till the time of his death. After this 
event the statute and common law of the mother country was 
again put into its place, and this statute and common law was then 
acted upon contrary to the judgment and wishes of the inhabitants 
of Pennsylvania, till after the Revolution in British America and 
its consequent independence. At this epoch an opportunitv being 
given to each State to make its own laws, the Pennsylvanians re- 
stored it to its native station, and placed it on a glorious perma- 
nency. They were lu w enabled to do justice to all the legisla- 
tive propositions of their founder, by allowing them their full 
scope. Accordingly they revised the other law before mentioned, 
namely, that which placed all prisons vp m the footing of work- 
shops } and bearing this idea in their minds, they produced at 



OF WILLIAM PENl5», \5^ 

length a system of criminal jurisprudence, by means of the two, 
which stands unparalleled as to excellence in the tiistory of the 
world. By this system, as it obtains at the present day, it ap- 
pears that wilful and prenieditsled murder is the only capital 
oifence ia t^ennsylvania. All other crimes are punished by fine, 
imprisoiiinent, and labour. All convicted criminals are expected 
to maintain t'emselves out of their own labour, as well as to de- 
fr y the expenses ot their commitment, prosecution, and trial. 
AccDi-dingly. an account is re,;iularly kept acainst them ; and if, 
wiien the term of tlieir i'nprisonment is expired, any surplus mo» 
ney is due to them on account of their work, it is given to them on 
tlieir disch .rge. The price of prison-labour in its various depart- 
ments is stifled by the inspectors of the gaol and those who em- 
ploy Viie ciiiiiinals. No corporal punishment is allowed in the 
prison, nor can any crimin;il be put in irons, it being the object 
not ti» degratle him. but to induce him to be constantly looking up 
to the rostoration of his tlignity as a man, and to the recovery of 
his m.irnl c laracter. No intercourse is allowed hetwepn the males 
aiiM the females, nor between the untried and convicted prisoners. 
Ail unneci'ssaiy conversation is forbidden. Profane swearing is 
never overlooked. A watch is kept, that no spirituous liquors he 
introducetl. Care is t.iken. that all the prisoners have the benefit 
of religious instruction. I'he prison is accordingly open at stat- 
ed times to the pasttus of the dilferent religious denominations of 
the place. A hope is held out to the prisoners, that the time of 
their confinement may be shoitened by their good behaviour. To 
realize this, the inspecto's have a power of interceding for their 
enlaigement. and the executive Government of granting it, if they 
thiuk it proper. II thev are refractory, they are put into solita- 
ry confinement, and depi ived of the opportunity of working. Dur'-- 
ing all this time t'^e expenses of their maintenance are going on, 
so that they have an interest in returning to their obedience, and 
the sooner the better : for the sooner they get into employment 
again the sooner they are enabled to liquidate the debt, which, 
since the suspension of t'leir labour, has been accruing on account 
of their board and washing to the gaol. These are the present 
regulations : the consequence of which is, that they who. visit the 
criminals in the gaol of Philadelphia, seeing no chains or fetters, 
but industry going on unshackled in various departments, have no 
other idea of it than of a free work-shop, or of a large and general 
manufactory, where people have consentetl to work together, or 
to follow in the same place their respective trades. In conse- 
quence of these re^rulations, great advantages have arisen both to 
the criminals and to the State. The State, it is said. lias experi- 
enced a diminution of crimes to the amount of one half since this 
change in the penal svstem, and the criminals have been restored 
in a great proportion from the iiaol to the community as reformed 
persons. Hence, little or no stiu;ma has b<'en attached to them 
after their di*charge for having been confined there. They, in- 
deed, who have had permission to leave it before the time expres- 
sed in the sentence, have been considered as persons not unfit to 
be taken into families, or confidentially employed. It may be ob» 



154 -MEMtWRS OF THE MPiC 

served also, that some of the most orderly and industrious, and 
*uch as have worked at the most profitable tra-'es, lave had sums 
of njonev to take on leaving the prison, by whieli they have been 
enabled to maintain themselves till they have j;()t into desirable 
and permanent emplo. . Here then is a code of penal law built 
i»pon the Christian principle of t!ie reformation of the n. lender. 
To dwell lono-er upon its merits would be us.-less. Let it only be 
I'emembered, that tiiis system obtains no where mt in i^' nrni/lva- 
nia, and that it /*•• tlie direct <^erm, only trained up by other iiands^ 
of the root tlint was planted in the Lontititution of that cozmtrif 
^ fFuliam Venn. 



'»^' 



CHAPTER XXTI. 

l^pw of him as a xfafpfmnn upon Christian principles as it relates 
to aliens or fo'-pig;ne>'S — jirst, as to uutch and ^'iwi'dfs — S'cortdli/y 
as *o the ahorif^lnes or Indiana — his Chr'isti n oiject in connect- 
ing himself wth iesp — his Christian condvct towards ilwrn — . 
honourable and o^rateful result to him and his fullowers from the 
same — otjectand conduct of those towards the same who have pro- 
ceeded upon thep'dicy ofthi' world — miserable result to the loiter 
-—peculiar reason of this result — his object in the way of bein^ 
accomplished by his descendnnts^-^fhirdly as to thf A\j^roes or 
Slaves — i'j7S Christian conduct towards these — happy ejects of the 
same — -misery produced by tlnjse w o have had any concern with 
them on theprinciple of the policy of the world. 

We have seen William Penn in the character of a Statesman as 
it relates to the uov erned. We are now t^. see him as he conduct- 
ed himself in a similar capacity towards aliens or strangers. Of 
these the first were the Dutch and Swedes, who inhabited the Ter- 
ritories which had been ceded to him by the Duke of York, ami of 
whom \ shall say no more, than that on his first arrival in Pennsyl- 
vania he comprehended all of them in one jireat Bill of Naturaliza- 
tion, admitting them to all the civil and reliirious privileges which 
those of his own countrymen enjoyed who had been the companions 
of his voyage. 

Among the aliens or foreigners more particularly to be noticed 
we may first reckon the Indians ; for, though they were the natives, 
indeed th«^ aborigines, of the countrv. they were yei aliens with re- 
spf'ctto him. And here we sliall find him treading in the same 
Christian path as before, and have an opportunity of again con* 
trasting the Statesman of the Gospel with that of the mere Politi- 
cian of the World. 

The great object which William Penn had in view, in connect- 
ing himself with the Indians, was that which was expressed in the 
Charter, namely, " to reduce the savage Nations by just and gen- 
tit manners to the love of cinl society and theChristian religion.'-' 



OF -WILLIAM PENI^ 1^ 

A nobler object, or one oi more divine origin, or one more full of 
fhilantnropy or love, never occupied the human lieart. It was 
founded on peace aiul ii,o;)d-.iill to man. It was to bring ht'athen 
nation.- tVom darkness to light, to ttach them to become honest and 
ns>^lul mem !('rs of society, and to spread the knowledge of Christ's 
kingdom. The verv tlioug 't was as bold as it was lovely. It soar-, 
ed aiiovc all obstacle or danger. It comprehended ;it once a trust 
in Providence, wiiich seenied to assure him, at the moment, of the 
accoOipiishment of t'le design. 

The mean^ piopoKPd to he used were, it appears, as pure and a* 
amiable as the t-bjf ct. How far he adopted them, we shall be enabled 
to see bv lo'jking over these Memoirs; and these will furnish us 
witli the foilowinj; connected account. In the Conditions made atid 
signed between ti)e adventurers and himself it was stipulated, be- 
fore any man was allowed to sail to the I^evv Land, that whatever 
was to be sold to tlie Indians in considoratim of their furs should 
be sold in the public market place, and there suifer the test wheth'^ 
er good or bad ; if good, to pass : if not go<<d. not to be sold for 
good, that the natives mi^ht he abusf^d or provoked ; that no Ad- 
venturer or Planter shouK! in word or deed wrong any Indian. but 
he should inc'ir t'l^e same penalty ot the Law as if he had commit* 
ted it against his Fellow-Advent'trer or Planter ; that if any In- 
dian should abuse in word or deed anv .Adventuier or Planter of 
the Pro\ince, the said Adventurer or Planter should not be his ovvtt 
jud;'e upon the said f ndian. hut lay his complaint before the Magis- 
tracy ; and that all dift'erences ; etween t':e two should be ended 
by twelve men. that is. six Adventurers or Planters and six In- 
dians. Having s gned these Conditions tliey were at liberty t© 
sail. Among the passengers in the ships were Commissioners. A» 
his religious principles did nttt permit him to look upon the King's 
Patent, or legal possession according to the Laws of Kngland. as 
sufficient to establish his ri'?ht to the Country, without purchasing 
it by fair and open bara;ain of the natives, to whom alone it proper- 
ly belonged, he instructed these to pay for whatever portions the 
latter tnigiit he willinirto dispose of. He instructed them also to 
confirm with them a league of eternal peace, and to treat them with 
al! possible candour, justice and humanity. In a letter sent to them 
bv tlie same ( Ommissioners, he expressed his desire to enjoy the 
Land only with their love and consent, and to gam their love aid 
friendship only by a kind, just, and peaceable life. \M)en tie 
Commissioners and Settlers landed, t'ley erected no forts, nor car- 
ried any h"stiie weapon. When afterwards in 1683 he arrived 
himself, he exhibited the same inofiensive apjiearance, and the 
Sa'ue confidence in their justice. At the Great Treaty both he 
and all his Followers appeared equally defenceless, and thisamidst 
a nation in arms. " It was not his custom," he said, " to use 
weapons of destruction against lis fellow-crentures ; for which 
reason he had come unarmed. He and his Friends had a hearty 
desire to live in peace and friendship with them, and to serve them 
to the utmost of their power. He should consider them as of the 
same flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one 
man's body waB to be divided into two parts." In his second 



J5& MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

voyage in 1700 he renewed his former treatment towards thprn. 
He Slowed the same regard to justice in all his dealings with theiOj 
and tlie same tender care and concern for tliem both as to t leir 
temporal and spiritual welfare. Accordingly he proposed to his 
own Monthly Meeting in tiie same year means, winch were acced- 
ed to, for a •iiore frequent intercourse between tiiem and Frieuas, 
be taking upon himseU the manner of it as well as the charge of 
procuring interpreters for the purpose. Soon alter tliis he intro- 
duced a legislative Act. which was to be binding up^n all, botu in 
the Province and Territories, for preventing abuses upon them; 
and though he did nut carry it. both his justice and his good-will 
towards them were equally manifested by it. His intei cour se, iiow- 
ever, with them became purposely more frequent after this period, 
and it was always directed towards their good. In tlie year following 
he conferred with his Council as to the best means of keeping up a 
friendly, useful, and moral communication with them, as far as the 
Executive could do it. Hence persons were selected for their in- 
tegrity to form a company with a joint stock, and to be authorised 
by the Government to trade with them. These were to keep them 
from spirituous liquors as much as possible, and to use all reasona- 
ble means to bring them to a true sense of the value ot Christiani- 
ty, but particularly by setting before them examples of probity and 
candour, and to have tliem instructed in the fundamentals of it : in 
short, they were to make their trading concerns with them subser- 
vient to the promotion of tiie Christian religion. '.Vhen he took his 
leave of them before he departed for En2;land the last time, he said 
with much tenderness, " that he had always lovod tliem and been 
kind to them, and ever sliould continue so to be. not throug'i any 
politic design, but from a most real aflfection." He then charged 
the Members of the Council to behave to them with all courtesy 
and demonstrations of good-will, as himself had ever done ; and 
having received from tliese an assurance that his request should b« 
complied with, he took bis linal leave of them. 

It is a law of our nature, where benefits have been generously 
conferred, that there is a disposition to return them ; and grati- 
tude, it will appear by the sequel, is not excluded (vom the hearts 
of those who live in an uncivilized state of society, or who are re- 
puted barbarous It was an observation of William Penn. with 
respect to the Indians, •' Do not abuse them, but let them have 
but justice, and you win them, where there is such a knowledge 
of good and evil." It will be pleasing, therefore, to record what 
return they made him for all the care and kindness which he had 
besttMved upon them ; and this will appear so great. I may say so 
unexampled, that either his own munificence must have been of 
much larger tlimensions than we have been accustomed to see, or 
their hearts mu.st have beaten with a pulse which has seldom vi- 
brated in the human breast. 

I may observe then, tliat the first result of his treatment of 
them showed itself in a natefid return on their part by kind and 
friendly offices both to himself and followers. They became in- 
deed t'>e benefactors of tlie Colonists. When the latter were 
scattered abroad in 1682, and without houses or food, the Indiaus,, 



OF WILLIAM PENN. 15? 

■J3 f have before shown, were remarkably kind and attentive to 
them. Thev hunted for thenj frequently, doii)£f their utmost to 
feeil them. Tliey consideied them all as tlie children of William 
Penn : and, lo.)kint!: upon him ever since the Great Treaty as their 
Father, thev treated them as Brothers. Richard Townsend, who 
has been iietore mentioned, confiims the above account. " And as 
our worthy Proprietor," says he, " treated the Indians with extra* 
ordinary humanity, they became very civil and lovins to us, and 
bron<iht us in abundance of venisoti." As to William Penn him- 
self, having now sucli an one as ho," they said, " they would never* 
do him any urono;." Some of the Kings even presented him with 
parcels of land ; and in the vear 1701, which was the last of his 
residence among them, several of the Tribes, on hearing that he- 
was going to leave the country, left their v^ oods. and went pur» 
po-ely d<!vvn to I'hiladelphia to take their leave of him, as a mark 
of resnect ai^d «>ratitude to their greatest human benefactor. 

A second result was manifested in their peaceful and affection* 
ate conduct towards the Settlers, so that the latter had no tear, 
though in a defenceless state, for their personal safety, but lived 
among them, though reputed savages, as among their best friends 
and protectors. '' As in other countries," continues the same 
Richard Townsend, " the Indians were exasperated bv hard treat- 
ment, which hath been the foundation of much bloodshed, so the 
contrary treatment here by our worthy Proprietor hath produced 
their love and affection." We find by a manuscript written 
by a passenger in one of the vessels which carried over some 
of the first Settlers, tlie following account: "A providential 
Hand was very conspicuous and remarkable in many instances 
which might be mentioned. — The Tn<lians were even rendered 
our benefactors and protectors.— Without any carnal weapon 
we entered the land, and inhabted therein as safe as if there 
bad been t!>ou«ands of Garrisons." Again : " This little State," 
says Oldmixon, ''subsisted in the midst of six Indian na- 
tions witliout so much as a militia for its defence." And this peace- 
able State, says Proud," was never interrupted for more than sev- 
entv yeais. or so long as the Quakers retained power in the govern- 
ment sufficient to influence a friendly and just conduct towards 
them, and to prevent or redress such misunderstandings and griev- 
ances as occasiotiallv happened between them and any of the in- 
habitants of the Province." To this it may he added, that as far 
as the Indians and Quakers (who may be considered as the de- 
scendants of William PiMHi) were concerned, the Great Treaty 
was nt-vei violated, a good understanding subsisting at this moment 
between them and the descendants of the original tribes. 

A third result was seen in ttie extraordinary regard which the 
Indians preserved for the memory of William Penn after be had 
left them, and which appears to have been handed down from fa- 
ther to son in a manner so livelvand impiessive. that it will he dif- 
ficult ever to eradicate it from their minds. In the year 1721, that 
is, twenty years after he had left tlie Province, a conference was 
held at Cones'ogo between the five nations, consisting of the Ma- 
Qi'.as'^, the Oneidas. the Onondagoes, the Cayougas. and the Sene- 



iS8 MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE 

■«as, ami Sir WilHam Keith, who was then Governor of Pennsylva- 
nia. The Ciiief Speaker on the part of the Indians said, among 
other things, with a coujitenunce which showed great respect, 
*^ tkai they should ntver forget the counsel which William f'enn 
ffavethem.; and that, tlioujih thej could not write as the Knglish 
did, yet they could keep in their memory what was said in their 
Councils. " 

In the following year, that is, in 172'2, the same five nations 
held another conference with Sir William Keith. Tliey met then 
at \lhany. Sir William laid his business before them. The 
Chief of tlie Indians made a reply in behalf of those assembled. 
The following is an extract from his spe >ch : '• Brother Onas ! 
Tou have told us that at the time you brightened tae covenant 
chain between us, you wished it might be clear and lasting as the 
sun and stars in Heaven, for which we thank you. And we being 
now all present do in the most solemn and public manner renew 
the covenant and brighten the chain made between us, that the 
lustre thereof mav never be obscured by any clouds or darkness^ 
b».t may shine as clear and last as long as the sun in the firmament. 
Brother Onas ! Y(m have likewise told us !iow William P<nn, 
who was a s;ond man, did at his first settlement of the province 
of Pennsvlvania -nake leagues (►f friendship with the Indians and 
treated them like br^*thren, and that, like the mine good man^ le 
left it in charsje t» all his Governors w!io should succee'i him, and 
to all the people of Pennsylvania, that they should always keep 
the covenants and treaties which he made with the five uat'ons, 
and t -eat them with love and kindness. U'e acknowledge that 
his Governors and people have always kept the same honestly and 
truly to this (lav ! so we on our part always have kept and for 
«ver shall keen firm peace and friendship with a good heart to ali 
the people of Pennsylvania. We tliankfuUy receive and approve 
of all the articles in vour proposition to us. and acknowledge 
thpm t'» be good and full of love. We receive and approve of the 
same with our whole hearts, because we are not only made one 
people bv the covenant chain, but we also are peo!>le united in one 
nead. one body, and one heart, by the strongest ties of love and 
friendship. Brother Onas! We sav further, u'P arp ,£;'/rtrf /oAe«r 
the former treaties made with fViUlam Fenn repented to us again^ 
and renewed hi you, and we esteem and love you as if you were 
William Venn himself " 

In the year 1742 a treaty was made at Philadelphia by Geore-e 
Thomas, Esq then Governor of Pennsylvania, with the six na- 
tions, when Canassatego, Chief of the Onondagoes, said, " ''*'c 
ar» all very sensible of the kind regard which that gooa man, Wil' 
Uam Petin, had for all the Indians.^^ 

At a Council Iield with the Seneca and other Indians in Phila- 
delphia, in '749, in the Administration of James Hamilton, Esq., 
OgaHshtash in a paf't of his speech thns expressed himself: We 
recommend it to the Governor to tread in the steps of those rrise 
people who have held the reins of government before him. in being 
good and kind to the Indians. Do, Brother, make it your study to 
consult the interest ot our nations. As you have so large an au' 



OF WILtlAM PENK« lat* 

thority, you can do us inucl) s^nod or harin. We would therefor* 

en^-aj^e voiir influence and atlecti"ns for us, that tlie sume harmo*- 
ny ami mutual aftertion may subsist durin<«; your ^'^oternments 
which so hiippi'tf subsisted informer times ; nay, from the firs- set^ 
tlement of this Province by our good friend the great WiUiaw, 
Fenn.''^ 

At a treaty held at Kaston in Pennsylvania with the Indians itt 
1756, (luring tlie Administration of Governor Morris, 'i'eedyus* 
cung, the Delaware Chief, spoke as follows • " Brother Onas, and 
the p'ople of Pennsylvania ! We rejoice to hear from you, that yott 
are willing to renew the and' nt good understanding; and that yoa 
call to mind the first treaties of fiiendship made by Onas^ourgnai 
Fy-iend, deceased with our fore'athers, when himself and his neo* 
pie firi^t came over here. We take hold of t!-ese treaties witi ooth 
our hands, and desire you will do the same, that a good un.ier* 
stanJi'ig and true friendship u^ay he re-fstabiished. Let us h.vtht 
take liold of these treaties, we beseech you: we on our side -■ dl 
certainly do it. 

Again, on concluding ;» peace in July, the same year, Teenyasst 
cung said, "I wish the same good Spirit, i/i«fj5ossess5t/ thf good 
sld man JViUiam Penn^ who was a friend to the Indians, may in* 
spirt^ the people of this Province at this time." 

In this manner I might go on by extracting from the speerheat 
made at the Indian treaties for a longer period. Suffice it to «ay, 
that the Indians perpetuated the memory of William Penn by 
giving the name of Onas to every succeeding Governor of Penn* 
Sylvania, and that they called the Quakers, his descendants, either 
Brothers Onas, or the Sons of the Friends of Onas, at the present 
day. 

Having now seen William Penn in the character of a Christian 
Statesman as he was concerned with one of the classes of aliens in 
his dominions ; that is, having seen his object in connecting himseif 
with these, and the m«^a'is wliich he employed to promote it ; and* 
having; witnessed the brilliant result of his endeavours both as t9 
himself and bis followefs, i m'lst inquire into Hie motives, ^-omluct, 
and success of those Statesmen who have visited foreigners and 
made establishments amons; them, hut who have proceeded on the 
old p'an of political expediency, or, as the phrase more usually is, 
on the policy of tlie world. 

It is a grievous matter to be obliged to begin with statinjr, that, 
though Christianity has been preached nearly two tliousand rears, 
I know of no Prince, Statesman, or Governor, who has opened aa 
intercourse with barbarous nations for the sole and exire^s pur- 
pose " of reducing (as William Penn's Charter expresses it) the 
savage natives to the love of civil sociefy and the ' hr'^tian relig- 
ion :" or as his Petition for the same has it) " of promoting the dory 
of God by the conversion of the Gentiles to ('hris^'s ki'yj;dom.V- 
Goo' men, I mean individuals, have visited fcn-eign lands with this 
amiable view, and have expose! themselves to haidshi'^- a» •' Han* 
gers, and indeed have given up tlieir lives to the cause. Witness 
/he Moravians and other estimable pprson^. But among the Gov* 
g1. 



i^ tlKMOlA& 69 THE LitS 

ernments of the world since the Christian sera, no one, that I hare 
heard of, ever made an establishment among unenlightened na=- 
tiDns for tnis espec.al purpose. Their object has been generally 
avirice ur ambition, or, in other word.-., to promote conquest or ex" 
i^nd trade. Need 1 bring in proof of this the early history of our 
Own establishmfnts in Africa and Asia, that of those bj the Dutch on 
tie s:inie continents, that of those by tse Spaniards and Portuguese 
in \frica and South America, or that of those by others professing 
the Christian name ? It would seem therefore as if William Penn 
at(»od alone as a ^Statesman in the promotion of the object as now 
explained. Not even in the neighbouring colonies of North Anier- 
ea. settled there eitlier prior to or about this period, had any one 
of the founders the same views in this respect as William Penn. 
Some emigrated tl ere under leaders or governors purely upon mo- 
tives ot speculation. Others, it must be admitted did the same 
■with a more laudable intention, both of affording and of finding an 
asvlum from religious persecution, and of establishing religious 
"freedom. But these advantages wei'e wholly for themselves, or 
for those who forwarded the adventure. The benefit of the na» 
tives, among whom they were to settle, was never included in 
the account. 

Tne conduct too, which they manifested after their arrival there,) 
did not consist of " those just and gentle manners" which the 
Pennsylvanian Charter prescribed. The first thing they did was 
to raise forts, to make a show with their arms, to exercise them- 
Selves in the same, and to present themselves, though few in num- 
ber, in the aspect of a warlike and formidable people. Having se- 
cured themselves in this manner, they too frequently took advan* 
tage of the ignorance o*'the natives. They tried rather to outwit 
them than to be just. For this purpose they introduced spirituous 
liquors among them. Their measures in short too generally par- 
took botli of fraud and violence, so that we have often occasion to 
blush for their proceedings and for the honour of the christiai* 
Oame. 

It will not be a matter of surprise, but on the other hand to be 
expected, that a conduct in itself barbarous should be accompanied 
by a barharou3 result. Accordingly we find a great difference be-' 
tween the treatnumt of these, and of those who settled on the same 
continent under the auspices of William Penn. Oldmixon says, 
*'thev (the Indians) have been very civil to the English (Pennsyl-* 
svlvanians'), who never lost man, woman, or child by them (A. 
1708) ; winch neit! er the colony of Maryland, nor that of Virginia: 
can 91 y, no mare than the great colony of New England." Hence, 
■we find in the same aut'^or that the Indians of Maryland, Caro-" 
lina, Virgitua, and of the Massachusetts, murdered the English,- 
and that the colonists of these parts were obliged to keep a strong 
militia against them. The fact is, that, generally speaking, the 
first settlers n these provinces, and those who succeeded them, 
were great sufferers from the natives. There were times when 
they could neither cultiva+e their fields nor travel on their busi- 
Be:*s without fear of destruction by the latter, and when they were 
ojaliged to retire to and to live in garrison for their safety. 



OF WILLIAM PENlfl l"^! 

It will be unnecessary, I apprehend, to refer to history for spe-» 
xific instances in confirmation of the above statement. It will bft 
far more profitable to enquire, what was the reason, if one can be 
pointed out more distinctly than another, why the settlers under 
William Pcnn should have been so singularly preserved, while so 
many of the others were destr«yed ? The answer to this inquiry^ 
it will be said, will be that which I have already given, namely, 
that a general bad conduct may be expected to be accompanied by 
a general bad result. But this answer is not precise enough to be 
admitted in the present case ; for, next to William Penn,t!"eLord 
Baltimore, a Catholic, who has been already mentioned to have 
had the honour of being the first American Govertior to allow a full 
Toleration in religion, conducted himself in the most unexception* 
able manner, in his province of Maryland, towards those Indians 
who surrounded him ; and yet these, when they had been provok* 
ed by the Virginians, did not stop their ravages when within the 
Territories of the latter, but carried destruction with them;whfre«( 
as, whatever the quarrels of the Pennsylvanian Indians were with, 
others, they uniformly respected and held as it were as sacred the 
Territories of William Penn. The trutli is, tliat the Marylanders 
carrying with them from Europe their old principles and prejudics* 
es, or in other words acting upon the policy ofth>- world, began to 
build forts and to shew themselves in arms, and this, nof after thetf 
fiad received any provocation to justify the measure^ hut merely on 
the anticipation^ or from the fear, that, the naiives in the vicinity^ 
being reputed barbarous, they mi^ht be subjected to insidts, and nt* 
timately destroyed. I'he conduct on the part of the Maryland- 
settlers, though it had nooftensive intention in it, was yet sufficient 
to infuse a suspicion into the minds of the natives, that they were 
not the friendly people they professed. It exhibited the j»ott'gr,and 
t\\QrQU)re it conveyed the notion, of annoyance ; whereas the mo* 
tives of William Penn, when he made similar professions, could 
neither be questioned nor mistaken ; for it must have been obvious 
to the least discerning of the natives around him, that having no 
fort, no cannon, no pistol, no sword, but only a few fowling piec* 
es for defence against wild beasts, or to procure food on urgent 
occasions, they could have nothing to fear either from him or his 
followers ; for the latter had put it totally out of their oun poivef 
to injure, them. Thus going among them upon the principle of the 
Gospel, or carrying with them the Quaker principle, that all war 
was against both the letter and spirit of Chr'stianity,he and they be-* 
came armed, though without arms ; they became strong, though with- 
out strength ; they became safe though without the ordinary means 
of safety ; and I am convinced, that the history of the different Amer- 
ican colonies now under our consideration will hear me out in as« 
serting, that this was the true reason, why in the one case tlie 
settlers were so singularly preserved, and why they were subject- 
ed to such fears and suffering in the other. 

In appealing to their history for this purpose, I may lay it down 
as a position not to be denied, that the Ir\dians were in general 
■well disposed towards the different settlers on their arrival, aqd 
that tliey gave sufficient proofs of this their friendly disposition 



IS^ 



MEMOrnS OF THE Lirs 



towards tliem. Notvvithstandinj; this, Dr. Trumbull in his Histo- 
ry of Coiiiiecticut, one of the New England States, makes tlie fol* 
Jowin-^ observation: "As these infant settlements." says he,*' were 
filled anii surrounded with numerous savages, tue people cciceived 
themselves in danger when they lay down and when they rose up, 
"wiien they went out and when they came in. Their circumstai.ce» 
were such, that it was judged necessarif foi- every man to be a sol« 
dier. The consequence was^. that, when they began to eshitjit & 
fnilitary appearance, several of them were way-laid and killed bj 
the Pequots, for so the Indians were named in tliis quarter Hence 
followed greater warlike preparations on the one ^idu, and great- 
er suspicion on the otlier, till at length open v\ar coaimencfd be- 
tween tliera, during which great excesses were committed by both 
parties." 

Thomas Chalkier, an eminent minister of the Gospel among the 
•Quakers, in his visit to another part of New England in the yeap 
ir04, speaks very much to the purpose thus : '• About this time the 
Jndians were very barbarous in the destruction of tlie English in-* 
habitants, scalping some, and knocking out the brains of other$ 
(men, women, an'! children), by which the country was greatly 
alarmed both night and day ; but the great Lord of all was pleased 
wonderfully to preserve our Friends, especicdiy tiiose who kept 
faithful to their peaceable principles, according to the doctrine of 
Christ in the Holy Scriptures, as recorded in his excellent Sermoa 
■which he preached on the Mount, in the fiith, sixth, and seventh 
chapters of Matthew, which is quite opposite to killing, revenge.^ 
and destruction, even of our enemies." 

A little further on he gives a similar account. " A neighbour," 
jays he, " of the aforesaid people, told me that, as he was at work 
in his field, the Indians saw and called to him, and he went to 
them. They told him that they had no quarrel with the Quakers, 
for they were quiet, peaceable people, and hurt nobody, and that 
iherefore none should hurt them Those Indians began about this 
time to shoot people down as they rode along the road, and to knock 
them on the head in tlieir beds, and very barbarously murdered 
many ; but we travelled the country and had large meetings, and 
the good presence of God was with us abundantly, and we had great 
inward joy in the Holy Ghost in our outward jeopardy and travels. 
The people generally rode and went to their worship armed ; but 
Friends went to their meetings without either sword or gun, having 
their trust and confidence in God." 

John Fothergill, another eminent Minister of the same Society, 
who travelled about two years afterward into the same and als» 
into other parts of the New England States, gives a similar ac- 
count. " It was then a very exercising and trying time with 
Friends here, by reason of the bloody incursions that the Indians 
then frequently made upon the English, being hired by the French 
about Quebec, which lies behin<l New England to the north-west, 
so that many of the Etiglish inhabitants were frequently murder- 
ed in their houses, or shot, or knocked down on the road or in the 
fields. Some were carried awav captives ; and those whom they 
'Silled they cut with their great knives round th? head about the 



OS WILLIAM PENlf. l€?' 

tjikht of Uie hair, and then puile i the &kiu off the head ; and for 
every such skin, u bicSi they call a scaip, tiicj were to have a sunj 
of money. These barbarities caused many people to leave their 
habitations with their families, and retire into garrisons, whiciithe 
people built in many places for their greater security. Yet tliat|. 
vvi'.ich was sorrowful to me to observe, was, that few of them seem* 
cd to be affected with due consideration, so as to be awakened to 
think rightly of tlie cause of this lieavy chastisement, iind be ia* 
duced to seek tlie Almighty's favour as they ought. But it was 9, 
profitable, humbling time to many (if our Friend i, ivho genei alLy 
stood in the Jaith^ and kepi at their usual places ofabooe, thougli at 
the daily hazard of their lives : and it was very reniarkable, that 
scarce any. ivho thus kept their habitation^ in the ^aith^ were suf-, 
fert'd to fall by th" Indians, though fiiv days passed but we heard of 
some of their cruel murders and destroying vengeance. We were 
in these parts backwards and forwards a considerable time, having 
many meetings iiefore we could be clear to leave thi.m, wfuch> 
tlirough the merciful regard and succouring nearness of the W- 
niigl'.ty power and presence, was satisfactory to us, and v<iry 
strengthening; and comfortable to Friends ; xve and they biding ali 
graciously preserved, though in the open cou?iiry, and we lodge(l 
several times at a Friend^s house at some distance from the garri- 
son ; and we had reason to believe a party of Jndians was fur some 
time a! 'Out it, the marks ol their feet being plainly to be seen the 
■next raorninii ; but fhey wen^ auay without doing any damage^ 
ihougii it was but a viean little timber hotise, and easy to break 
into.'^ 

It appears, as far as v»'e have yet disclosed the contents of the 
two Journals, that the Quakers, who never used weapons of wap 
like other people, but lived in a defenceless state, were marked a0 
it were for preservation by those v^vy Indians, wlio were carrying 
death and destruction among all the other settlers promiscuously 
wherever an oppoi tunity was afforded them Three instanceg 
however occur in the Journal of Thomas ('halkley, where person* 
belonging to the Society were killed ; but it is remarkable that, in 
every one of these, they suRered, because, having out of fear aban" 
doned their own great principle in the case before lis, they gave the 
Indians reason to suppose tiiat, though thoy appeared to be out- 
wardly, yet they had ceased to he, real (Quakers. " Among the 
manv liundreds," says Tliomas Chalklev, " that were slain, I 
heard hut of three of our Friends beino- killed, whose destruction 
was very remarkable, as I was informed. The one was a woman, 
and the other two were men. The men used to go to their labour 
Avitliout any weapons, and trusted to the Almighty and depended 
on his vrovidence to protect them {it being their principle not t» 
use weapons of war to offend others or to cl fend themselves) : but a 
spirit of distrust taking place, they took weapons of war to defend 
themselves : and the Indians, who had seen them several times 
without tliem, let them alone, saying, they were peaceable men and 
hurt nobody, therefore they icould not hurt them ; but now seeing 
them have guns, and supposing they designed to kill the. Indians^ 
ihey therefore shot them dead.'^ 



i^4 



KEMOIRS OF THE MFE 



With respect to tlie woman, the story is rather long. I \\i\l 
f tate it however conciselj bj observing, that she had remained in 
her habitation, with others of her family, where both she and they 
had been safe; but that tl»e massacres in the neighbourhood had 
heen such, that she began at length to fear for her life. At this 
moment certain men coming from the garrison with their guns, and 
informing her that the Indians were near, she returnee* with them, 
and entered into it. While she was there, she became uneasy. 
She felt that she had abandoned one of the great principles of her 
Srligion, by an association with armed people, and therefore she 
left the tort; but on returning home, the Indians, who had seen 
her come out of it, and ivho therefore supposed her to belong to^ or 
to hold the same principles with those who were then in it,, watch- 
ed, way-laid, and killed her. 

The above instance is likewise mentioned by Thomas Story in 
his Journal, who travelled in the samcyear to the same parts ; but 
he adds another of a similar kind, which, as it is to the same pur- 
port, and is the only other I am acquainted with, I shall give to 
the reader in his own words. " And the same morning," says he, 
'' a young man, a Friend, and tanner by trade, going from the 
^wn to his work with a gun in his hand, and another with him 
it*i//jo!t^aw^, the Indians shot him who had the gun, but hurt not 
the other : and when they knew the young man they had killed 
was a Friend, they seemed to be sorry for it but blamed him for car- 
rying a gun ; for they knew the (Quakers would not fight nor do 
them any harm* ; and therefore, by carrying a gun, they took him 
jfor an enemy. 

Having now canvassed the great subject under the head ' In- 
dians' in its different branches, as I had originally proposed, I 
must bring the attention of the reader back to one of them, name- 
ly, to the object which William Penn had in connecting himself 
with these, just to show how no goad effort is ever lost, or how this 
object, which he had so much at heart, and which he was the firsj 
to propose, is in the way of being accomplished by his descendants. 
"When in his own monthly Meeting at Philadelphia he procured 
{he minute to be passed, by which a more regular intercourse was 
to be kept up with them, who could have thought that he then laid 
the foundation of the civilization of the different North x\merican 
tribes ? and yet such most probably will be the issue. From that 
time a communication between them and his own Society for this 
lau«lable purpose was incorporated as a duty into the discipline of 
the latter : and this has been kept up, subject to interruption more 
t)r lesson account of the wars of Europe. In process of time, that 
which had beent eduty only of the Monthly Meeting of Philadel- 
phia became the duty of several larger circles, or Quarterly Meet 
in ■■;9, that is, of the Great Yearly Meeting, which comprehended 
the Quaker-population of a part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Del- 

• As a further confirmation of tlie theory 1 have advanced, I may observe, that 
'wie seldom hear of missionaries bein^r killed, thougli thousands have gone and resided 
among savages ; but then they have gone thither both professionally and practicaljy 
%> the children of William Penn, that is, in the spirit of peace, oftdtvitfaut arm. 



09 WILZIAM VENVSi 164 

€fware, find the eastern parts of Maryland, and after that of anoth*. 
er Yearly Meeting, which comprehended the Society in other parts 
of Pennsylvania, the western shore of Maryland, Virginia, and 
Ohio. This increased population afforded of course increased 
means, and such as were more proportioned to the magnificencij 
of the end. Hence civilization has been offered by the descendant* 
of William Penn spread over this great extent of country to the 
Senecas, Oneidas, Onondagoes, Cayugas, Shawanese, Delawares. 
Wyandots, Cherokees, Creeks, Chickesaws, Choctaws, Tuscaro* 
ras, Miamis, and other Indians, most of whom have more or iesa 
embraced it, and some of whom are on the road to an important 
change. Those who have been the longest under their kind in-^ 
structors have made the greatest progress, and among these some 
have already arrived at that station, where, when they view tiiem-* 
selves as they are, and look back upon what they were, there iSt 
but little danger of a relapse. The tribe of Senecas settled at Al«, 
legany are, I believe, in the most prominent state of improvement, 
iFrom wild hunters, constantly roaming about and depending from 
day to day on a precarious subsistence, they have become station^ 
ary farmers, and taught to look for a more certain and permanent 
support from the produce of their lands. It appears by the last 
Report, that the improvement among them in the tiiree last jeari 
has been astonishing. They had erected nearly a hundred houses 
since that time, most of them two stories high, and well put up 
with hewn logs, very perpendicular at the corners, and nicely fit* 
ted together. These buildings, with very little exception, were 
their own work. They had opened good roads, which were re« 
markably well made, being superior to those among the frontier 
white inhabitants. Tliey had made also an equal progress upoa 
their farms. Their fences were generally good. Divers of theiix 
raised wheat, oats, buckwheat, potatoes, turnips, beans, squashesj 
pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons of various kinds. They had a 
number of horses, and a good stock of cattle and hogs, which were 
of their own rearing. They mowed their ground, and made hay, 
and preserved straw as fodder for the winter. Many of them usea 
the plough. They had grist and saw-mills among them. Some 
could weave and tan. The idea of property began to be prevalent 
among them. They began to be neater in their persons, and almost 
^11 of them had abandoned tlie use of spirituous liquors. AVith reSi- 
pect to the women, they had been exempted in a great degree from 
the drudgery of field labour. Their principal employment was that 
of spinning, knitting, and making soap. Such is the state of the 
Senecas residing near the Allegany river. "The above state*- 
ment," says one of the deputation, who visited them, "exhibits, 
the progress of one tribe towards civilization, and furnishes those 
interested in their welfare with great encouragement in the prose- 
cution of a work so well calculated to increase the comforts of hu* 
man life. — But we were as much encouraged (says the same per- 
son") with the Senecas, who resided on the river Cattaraugus, as- 
with those of the Allegany, although the inipiovements were not 
80 great, thev being more remotely situated and of later date.'^ 
Henee the reformation of one tribe will, it is to be hoped, be §uc; 



3t6|$ aiEMOIRS OF TKE LISE 

ceeded by the reformation of another, each in turn, as it shall have 
ferved its apprenticeship, it" I may use the expression, or as it shall 
have fulfillei! the period necessary for the kriovvledge required. 
And hence a prospect is opened to us truly gratifying in which we 
fe? nation after nation included, til! at length Heathenism itself 
tliall he no more : and if ever this happy day should arrive on the. 
Korthern part of the continent of America, it ought to be held in 
grateful remembrance by pitsterity, that the blessing* commenced 
xn the virtuous politics of William Petin. 

We are now to see William Penn as he conducted himself as a 
statesman upon Christian principles towards another class of 
aliens, namely, those negroes who were brought from Africa into 
Pennsylvania soon after tliat colony began. 

Iq the years 1681, 168'2, and 1683, when he was first resident 
there, but very few of these had been imported. \t this time, as 
I then observed, the traffic in slaves was not branded with infamy 
as at the present day. It was considered as favourable to both par- 
ties : to the Planters, because t'ley had but fev/ labourers in com- 
parison with the extent of their lands : and to the poor Negroes 
fliemselves, because they were looked upon as persons retleeir.ed 
out of superstition, idolatry, and heathenism, and t-i be treated 
tvel! in order that they might embrace the Christian religion. 
Hence, their number being very few, and their usage compar- 
atively mild, their situation seemed to be such as not to call for 
legislative interference. All, therefore, that he then did was gen- 
erally to inculcate tenderness towards them, as to persons of the 
Same species ; and to recommend it to their niast?rs, as thev were 
children of t'>e same great Father and heirs of the same promises, 
to consider them as branches of their own families, for M-hose spi- 
ritual welfare it became them to be concerned. But in the year 
1700, that is, about seventeen years afterwards, when he visited 
America a second time, he found their numbers somuch increased, 
tliat they v/ere likely to form no inconsiderable part of the popula- 
tion in time. Now it was that their case began to demand his at- 
tention as a Christian Statesman. He began to question, whether 

• Tt is melancholy to think, that the beautiful plan of civilization thus foing; on 
ainonir so many of the Indian tribes is likely to be most seriously interrupted by the 
war bpt'.veen Great Britain and \merica One of the first measures taken by the 
Government of Canada, after flie declaration of uar by the Dniled States, was to 
attempt tobrinw over to the Rritish standard as many of the tribes bordering on the 
nortb-western frontier of tlie latter as they could. Several of these joined it. The 
consequence was that many of their villagfes were laid waste by the militia from the 
western -tates, and the who'e of the corn and other subsistence which they had 
provided for their winter supply destroyed ; so that being destitute of houres to 
shelter them'^elves, or food, many must in the course of the last winter have perished. 
Of the tribes on the north-western frontier, only the Delawares. Shawanese and 
a part of tl>e Wyandots refused to embark in the contest. Among- the southern 
the Creeks. Cherokees Cliick'-saws, and Chocktaws remained also neuter. These 
are all advaiicintj- rapidly towards civilization, many of them having acquired con- 
siderable property. 'Hiey already manufacture a eonsiJerable part of their own 
clothing; In consequence of their wise determination to take no part in the war, 
they have not been molested ; and, therefore, it i? to be hoped that they will cor' 
tiiiifs in an improving state. 



OF WILLIAM P£NK« 



1^ 



under the Christian system men ought to be consigned to uncondi- 
tional slavery : whether they ought lobe boughtand sold ; whether 
the situation of master and slave under such terms was not preg- 
nant botli with physical and moral evil ; whether the human heart 
would not become corrupted and hardened by the use of power; 
and whether, therefore, if no public care were exercised over the 
poor Negroes, they would not become an oppressed people. This 
questiim he determined virtuously and in unison with the Resolu- 
tions of two Yearly Meetings which had been held before in h» 
own Province. For the honour, therefore, of his own Society asa 
professing people, and that the Negroes might stand still more mi- 
nutely upon record on their public Journals, and this as beings 
whose situation entitled them to spiritual attention equally withi 
others of a different complexion and colour, (considerations which 
he knew well would forever secure them protection from those 
who belonged to it,) he resolved, as far as his own powers went, 
upon incorporating their treatment as a matter of Christian duty 
into the Discipline of the latter. He succeeded ; and the result 
was. that a Minute was passed by the Monthly Meeting of Phila- 
delphia, and properly registered there, by which a Meeting was 
appointed more particularly for the Negroes once every month 5 
so that, besides the common opportunities they had of collecting 
religious knowledge by frequenting the places of public worship, 
there was one day in the month, in which, as far as the influence 
of the Monthly Meeting extended, they could neither be temporal- 
ly nor spiritually overlooked. 

Having secured their treatment in a certain degree among those 
of his own persuasion, his next object was to secure it among oth- 
ers in the Colony, on whom the discipline of the Quakers had no 
hold, by a legislative Act. This was all he could do at present. To 
forbid the bringing of slaves into the Colony .was entirely out of 
his power. He had no command whatever over the external com- 
merce of the Mother-Country. He was bound, on the other hand, 
by his Charter, to admit her imports ; and at this moment she par- 
ticularly encouraged the Slave-trade. The power he had as Gov- 
ernor extended only to Laws or Regulations within his own boun- 
daries : and these were not to be contrary to reason, or the spirit 
of the British Constitution. Of this then he availed himself; for 
he considered Slavery as a frightful excrescence, which had insen- 
sibly grown upsince the discovery of the New World, and which 
the latter, though it permitted, could not recognise. His first step 
was to introduce a Bill into the Assembly, which should protect 
the Negroes from personal ill-treatment, by fair trials and limited 
jliunishments ; and which at the same time, by regulating their mar- 
riages, should improve their moral condition. This he did with a 
view of fitting them by degrees for a stateof freedom ; and as the Bill 
comprehended not only those who were then in tiie Province and 
Territories, but those who should afterwards be brought there, he 
hoped that it would lay the foundation, as it were, of a preparato- 
ry school for civilization and liberty to all of the African race. 
Here then we see him acting the part of a Christian Statesman to- 
wards another class of aliens, and these the vilest within hisboun- 



00. 



16^ MEMOIRS OP THE tIFE 

daries. That he did not carry his Bill in the Assembly is to be la^ 
mented. But his mind, his spirit, his intention, were equally 
shown hy the effort which he made, and he is equally entitled to 
our praise and gratitude as it he had succeeded on the occasion. 

But though unfortunately for his own feelings he failed in car- 
rying his point where he conceived he should be most useful, the 
pains he had taken upon the subject were not lost, l he Resolu- 
tion, which he had occasioned his own Society to make, and which 
has been just mentioned, answered the same end, though it took a 
much longer time to accomplish it : for, when he procured the in- 
sertion of it in the Monthly Meeting Book of Philadelphia, he 
sealed as assuredly and effectually the abolition of the '^lave-Trade 
and the emancipati^on of the Negroes within his own Province, as, 
when he procured the insertion of the Minute relating to t!»e In- 
dians in the same Book, he sealed the civilization of the latter ; for 
from the time the subject became incorporated into the Discipline 
of the Quakers they never lost sight of it. Several among them be- 
gan to refuse to purchase Negroes at all, and others to emancipate 
those which they had in their possession, and this of their own ac- 
cord, and purely from the moti\es of religion ; till at length it be- 
came a Law of the Society that no Member could be concerned, 
either directly or indirectly, either in buying or selling or in hold- 
ing them in bondage ; and this I^aw was carried so completely into 
effect, that in the year 1780, dispersed as the Society was over a 
vast tract of country, there was not a single Negro as a slave in 
the possession of an acknowledged Quaker. This example, soon 
after it had begun, was followed by others of other religious denom- 
inations. After this the American Revolution, which disseminat- 
ed notions of Liherty, and which ended in Independence, aided 
the good cause. Since that time it has been gradually gjiining 
ground, so that out of tens of thousands of slaves once inPenn-iylva- 
nia very few comparatively remain, and these are annually* so di- 
minishing, that probaily in ten years there will not be left a single 
one to pollute the tenitory of ^ illiam Penn. 

I shall not enter here, according to the plan I have pursued, into 
a detail of the conduct of those Statesmen, and the miserable con- 
sequences of it, who have had any concern with the Negroes on the 
principle of the Policy of the World. The subject is too well 
known, and I should only be torturing the feelings of the reader 
by a comparison. Posterity, I believe, will in more distant ages 
find it difficult to cre(!it the enormities to which they have given 
hirth. They will wonder how such a system could ever have been 

• From a census taken of th? population of Pennsylvania at three successive pe- 
riods, we are enabled to g;ive t'le following' account. 

Population in ?700 -434.373— Slaves 3,787 
1800 602,365— do. 1,706 
1810- «10,091~do. 795 

Frotn the same census we a ' enabled to give a similar account of that of the 
city gf Philadelphia for the ?am years : 

Population in 1790— ^2,520— Slaves 27S 
1800— 64,035— -do. 59 

1810— 38,6iO— do. 3 



OF WILLIAM PEN»> 169 

thought of, and much more how it cosld have so long continued. 
They will probably mark -vvitli barbarism the age that introduced 
it ; nor will they probably opeak of Britain herself as civilized, till 
the day when she abolisiied the Slave-Trade ; or till that other daj 
yet to come, when the word Slavery shall be erased from the book 
which enumerates her foreign. possessions. 



• •its- 4> -i 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

Recapitulation of the traits in the preceding chapters of his legist 
la'iive character as a ( hristian — has exhibited himself besides as 
the ruler of a kingdom n'iihout a soldier — and also without an 
oath — Great Treaty ivitli the Indians never ratified by an oath 
and yet never broken — Indians made incursions in Pennsylvania 
in 1754, but never while the Quakers ruled — causes of these in- 
cursions — peace restored by thp (luakers— Father O^Leary^seU' 
logium on the Government of WUliam Penn — happy condition of 
Pennsylvania under it — conclusion. 

It has appeared from the two preceding chapters, that William 
Penn exhibited a new model of Government to p(tsterity. While 
he gave to the Representatives concerned in it all the power which 
they tliem?elves could desire, he made the people, according to Ed- 
mund Burke, '• as free as any in the world." He took away from 
bot'^ the means of corruption and from himself and successors the 
means of tyranny and oppression. It may be remembered perhaps 
how nobly, wlien he was drawing up the articles of his Constitu- 
tion, he expressed himself in a letter to R. Turner on this subject. 
" And as my understanding and inclinations," says he "havebeen 
much directe(i to observe and to reprove mischiefs in Governments, 
so it is now put into my power to settle one. For the matters of 
Liberty and Privilege I purpose that which is extraordinary, and 
leave myself and sue essors no power of doing mischief , that the 
tvitl of one man may not hinder the good of a whole country. 

It has appeared secondly, that he made universal Toleration the 
great corner-stone of his civil edifice, not fearing to put into the 
most important offices of State all those who believed in Jesus 
Christ, tlie Saviour of the world ; or in other words, not fearing 
any inconvenience from tiie collision of the minor though different 
tenets which tiiey professed. 

It has appeared thirdly, that he abolished the punishment of 
death except in the case of wilful murder : and that he made tiiose 
prisons, in which the public safety required offenders to be confin- 
ed, the schools of their reformation through the medium of indus- 
try : b}' which he laid the foundation of the finest code of criminal 
law now on tlie whole earth. 

It has appeared again, that he conducted himself towards those 
aliens, with whom he happened to be politically connected, as men 



Jf30 MEMOIRS or THE LIFE 

«nd brethren, and therefore as persons whose temporal and spirit- 
ual interests were to be severally promoted. Hence, he protected 
the helpless, he instructed the ignorant, and he attempted to raise 
them gradually in the scale of human beings. 

And it has appeared lastly, that after his Constitution had been 
accepted, sealed, signed, and put in force, he did not cleave to the 
constituent parts of it with that obstinacy with which Statesmen 
defend not only the laws and edicts of their own making, but those, 
the (lead and obsolete letters of former times ; but that he wi'.s al- 
ways ready to give up, upon conviction, such of them as were found 
less promotive than others of the public good. 

But William Penn has shown, in other political departments, 
which I have not yet noticed, an example not less amialdein itself, 
and not less important to posterity. lie has exhibited to the world 
the singular spectacle, or has shown the possibility, of a nation 
maintaining its own internal police amidst a mixture of persons of 
different nations and different civil and religious opinions, and of 
maintaining its foreign relations also, without the aid of a soldier 
or man in arms. The constable's staff was the only instrument of 
authority in Pennsylvania for the greater part of a century, and al- 
ways while the Government was in the hands of his own descend- 
ants, the Quakers ; and never was a Government, as it related to 
the governed, maintained with less internal disturbance, or more 
decorum and order ; and, as it related to foreigners, with more 
harmony ; for, though he was situated among barbarous nations, 
never, during his Administration or that of his proper successors, 
was there — a quarrel— 'Or — a war. 

He has exhibited again the singular spectacle, or shown the pos- 
sibility, of a great nation managing all its concerns without the in- 
tervention of an oath. He believed that all oaths were forbidden 
by Jesus Christ, and therefore he did not admit them into his eivil 
code. He allowed only of simple affirmation ; but he punished it, 
if false, as perjury. All affairs of the Magistracy, all afl'airs of the 
Government, were conducted without an oath ; and no injury was 
found to accrue thereby; nor was Truth violated more in Pennsyl- 
vania than in any other quarter of the globe. 

He managed his foreign concerns in like manner. The Great 
Treaty between himself and the Indians was made without an 
oath on either part. It was the only treaty, says Voltaire, that 
was so ratified, and that was never broken. This observation of 
"Voltaire was minutely true as it related to the Quakers, who were 
considered by the Indians as his descendants ; and it may be said 
to be true also as it related to the other inhabitants of the Pro- 
vince ; for though hostilities commenced afterwards, and this on 
the part of the Indians themselves, they did not commence till 
ihe former had become the aggressors. In the year 1751 James 
Losan, who has been before mentioned in these Memoirs, died. 
He had been the Proprietor's Secretary and principal Agent. All 
treaties and public transactions with the Indians, and more espe- 
cially on the subject of their lands, were directed by him. After 
his death, other persons of a different character were put into his 
place. Heuce the Quakers were excluded from their accustomary 



m WILLIAM fErfjJ. IM 

intercourse with the latter. From this time persons were allowed 
more freely to trade with them, whose principles were not suffi- 
cientlv known. — Home oi" these made it a practice to make them 
drunk, and then to rob them of all they hatl.- — Others, who settled 
in their Deighbourhood, encroached upon their lands. The Indiana, 
complained Their grievances were not nciticed as before. A 
spirit of dissatisfiiction sprung up in consequence among them. 
Tiie Frencli took advantage of this, and encouraged them to re- 
taliate in another way. A war was accordin<;ly resolved upon in 
the year 1754, and many of tlie frontier iidiabitants suftered by it. 
About nine years afterwards a new circumstance happened, which 
greatly irritated the Indians, and made them still more hostile 
than before. Some inhabitants of Lancaster county, principally 
from tiie township of Paxtang and Donnegal, who were bigoted 
Presbyterians, armed themselves, and, under the impious notion 
of doing God service by extirpating the Heathen from the land, 
fell upon the remains of a Conestogo Tribe, who were peaceable 
persons, living far within the settled parts of the Province, and 
Avho were entirely innocent as to the war, and murdered all of 
them in cool blood., at two difterent times, both old and young, 
men, women, anti children. The good old Chief Shehaes, who 
had assisted at one of the treaties with William Penn I imself, and 
^vho had been a faithful friend to the English ever since, was 
hatciieted in his bed. After this they advanced hundreds of them 
armed towards Pliiladelphia, threatening destruction to all who 
slioiild opjiose them, in order to cut to pieces a party of friendly 
Ind ans, consisting of those of Wyalusing, who, to the number of 
a hundred and forty, had thrown themselves upon the protection 
of that city. Happily they were prevented by the Philadelphians 
from executing their bloody design. — But they had struck such 
terroi- into the country, that no one dared to impeach the murder- 
ers, or even publicly to mention their names. •' The weakness of 
the Government," says Fobert Proud, " was not able to punish 
these murderers, nor to chastise tlie insuigents ; a surruwful pre- 
sage of an apfiroachbif:; change in that happy Constitution, which 
had so lovg afforded a peaceable asj/lum to the oppressed .'" This 
dreadful massacre irritated, as I said before, to a still gre.iter de- 
gree, those Tribes \>hicb had been already offended ; and what 
the consequences would have been, no man can say, if the Quak- 
ers had not thrown themselves into the gap as it were hetweeu the 
contending parties. — They formed a Society among themselves, 
called •' the friendly Association for gaining and preserving Feo.ce 
with the Indians by pacific Measures." They raised many thous- 
and pounds within their own Society. They purchased goods for 
presents. They applied to the Indians for a hearing. Suffice it 
to say, that the latter received them as the true Friends of the 
great and deceased Onas ; tliat through their mediation they re- 
newed the Treaty with the Government of Pennsylvania near 
Lake Erie ; and that they withdrew themselves for ever from the 
French interest from that day. 

Having now exhibited William Penn to the reader as a Chris- 
tian Statesman in a!! the points of view I originally intended, I 



172 MEMOIRS OF THE MFE 

shall only add the encomium which Father O'Leary, a CathoUcy 
in his Essay on Toleration, passed upon his Government, and a 
very short state;iient descriptive of the happiness which those who 
lived under it are said to have enjoyed. " William Penn, the 
great Legislator of the Quakers," says the author just mentioned, 
" had the success of a (Conqueror in establishing and defending 
his Colony, among savage tribes, without ever drawing the sword ; 
the goodness of the most benevolent rulers in treatiti^; his subjects 
as his own children ; and the tenderness of an universal Father, 
"who opened his arms to all mankind without distinction of sector 
party. In his Republic it vi^as not the religious cr. ed, but person- 
al merit, that entitled every membpr of society to the protection 
and emoluments of the State." With respect tj the statement 
alluded to, it nas been supposed that, daring the seventy years 
while William Penn's principles prevailed, or the Quakers had 
the principal share in the Government, there was no spot on the 
globe where, number for number, there was so much Virtue (tr so 
much true Happiness as among the inhabitants of Pennsylvania ; 
and tliat during this period the latter country exhibited (setting 
aside tlie early difficulties of a new Colony) a kind of little para- 
dise u[)i)n earth. Hence the period from 1682 to 1754, with the 
same exception, has been denominated the Golden Age of Penn- 
sylvania. Nor has this name been improperly bestowed upi)'i it, 
if we examine into facts : for in a Constitution where merit only 
■was publicly re rt'arded, there must have been a constant growth 
of Virtue, and of course of Happiness M'ith it. In a constitution 
also where evi^ry man had free scope for his exertions, and the 
power of enjoying the fruits of his own labour, there mus*^ have 
.been the constant opportunity of improving his temporal condi- 
tion. At the latter end of tie period before mentiuncd the Penn- 
sylvanians exported produce to the value of half a million sterling, 
and they imported conveniences and comforts to the same amount. 
Five hundred vessels, including ships, sloops and schooners, left the 
port of Philadelphia within the year. The land therefore became 
to them a land of plenty, flowing as it were with milk and honey. 
And from this delightful condition there were not the usual draw- 
backs as in other States ; for during all this period, as I observed 
before, there was no war. They lived in a state of security. Their 
taxes were comparatively nothing. They had no internal broils.— 
They suffered no persecution for religion. No one sect viewed 
another with shyness. They differed as to tlie articles of their 
faith, but thev were still friends. Proud, in speaking upon this 
subject, says that William Penn was far from bein^ actuated by 
the extravagent notions which some others had entertained upon 
Oovernment, " in giving such an excellent example to mankind, 
and shoivins: them liow happij it is possible for men to live in the 
world if they please ^ for, while he distinguished between the too 
general abuse of power and the exertion of a just authoritw he 
laid a foundation for happy consequences, as manifested in the late 
p^lorious examplf and prosperity of the r'rovince. to s?ich a de^^ree of 
both ^inblic and private felicity, as hath exceeded that of most other 
cQuntries, considering its age, situation, extent, and other circum- 



©F WILLIAM PENJ4, 173 

stances, that we know of in the t£;orW."— Such was the happy re- 
sult of the Government of William Penn. How awful does the 
contemplation of it render the situation of Statesmen ! Awful 
indeed, if, having within themselves the power of disseminating 
so much happiness, they have failed or neglected to dispense it ! 
But still more awful, if by wars, persecution, or other unjust pro- 
ceedings, they have been the-authors of unnecessary sufferings at 
home, or of misery to those aliens with whom circumstances have 
unhappily led them to be concerned ! Let bad Governors look at 
the contrast with which a review of their own conduct can furnish 
them, and tremble ! Lei the good, on the other hand, be encourag- 
ed Let them consider the extraordinary opportunity which their 
elevated stations give them, far indeed beyond that of all others, 
not only of doing i^ood to, but of being handed down to posterity 
among the greatest benefactors of the human race : and above all 
let t'oem consider that, by discharging their sireat and extensive 
Stewald^hips faithfu ly, they may exchange their earthly for in° 
'Corruptible crewns of glory at the liesurrection of tlie Just, 



Fijyiis. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

VOL. I. 



Chai?. !• William Penn — his origin or lineal descent— as col- 
lected from public accounts p. 9. 

Chap. 2. Is born in 1644— goes to Chigwell school — religious im- 
pressions there — goes to Oxford — his verses on the death of the 
Duke of Gloucester— is further impressed by the preaching of 
Thomas Loe— 'fined for non-conformity, and at length expelled 
— turned out of doors by his father — is sent to France — rencon- 
tre at Paris — studies at Saumur — visits '''uriti — is sent for home 
— becomes a student at Lincoln's Inn . - - p. 11. 

Chap. 3. \. 1666-1667 — is sent to Ireland — attends the Court 
of the Duke of Ormond — meets again with Thomas Loe — im- 
pression again made by the sermon of the latter — is put into 
gaol for being at a Quakers' meeting-— writes to Lord Orrery — is 
discharged from prison — is reported to be a Quaker— ordered 
home on that account by his father— 'interesting^ interview be- 
tween them — conditions offered him by his father — is again 
turned out of Hoors p. 15. 

Chap. 4. A. 1668 — bf^comes a minister of the Gospel — publishes 
« Truth exalted"— also " The Guide Mistaken"— holds a pub- 
lic controversy with Vincent in the Presbyterian Meeting-house 
—publishes " The Sandy Foundation shaken"— general con- 
tents of the same— -is sent in consequence to the Tower — ^sends 
an answer from thence to the Bishop of London — iwrites there 
*' No Cross No Crown"-— particular contents and character of 
this work — substance of his letter to the Lord Arlington-— 
writes '• Innocency with her open Face"— is discharged from 
the Tower p. 20. 

Chap. 5. A. 1669 — visits Thomas Loe on his death-bed — exhor- 
tation of the latter — is sent again to Ireland — wiites " A Letter 
to the young convinced" — procures the discharge of several from 
prison — returns to England — is reconciled to his father p. 30. 

Chap. 6. A. 1670 — preaches in Gracechurch-street — is taken up 
and committed to Newgate — is tried at the Old Bailey and ac- 
quitted — account of this memorable trial—attends his father on 
his death-bed — dying sayings of the latter — publishes " The 
People's ancient and just — Liberties asserted" — disputes pub- 
licly with Jeremy Ives at Hit>h Wycomb— writes to the Vice- 
Chancellor of Oxford — publishes " A seasonable Caveat against 
Poperv" — is a?ain taken up for preaching, and sent to the Tow- 
er, and fr'im thence to Newgate - - - - p. 32. 

Chap. 7. '\. 1671— writes, while in Newgate, to The High Court 
of Parliament— to the Sheriffs of London— to a Roman Catholic 



eONTENTS. 175 

.— publishes " A cautionary Postscript to Truth exalted" — 
" Truth rescued from Imposture" — " A. serious Apology for the 
Principles and Practice of the Quakers" — " The great Case of 
Liberty of Conscience debated and defetuled" — general con- 
tents of the latter— comes out of prison — travels into Holland 
and Germany _.----- p. 45. 

Chap. 8. A. X672 — returns to England — marries — settles at 
Rickmansworth — travels as a preacher — writes *' TI\e Spirit of 
Truth vindicated" — " The new Witnesses proved old Here- 
tics" — " Plain Dealing with a traducing Anabaptist" — " V Wind- 
ing-sheet for the Controversy ended" — •' Quakerism a new Nick- 
name for old Christianity" — letter to Dr. Hasbert - p. 49. 

Chap. 9. A. 1673 — travels as a minister — writes " The Christian 
Quaker" — also Reason against Railing, and Truth against Fic- 
tion"— also " The counterfeitChristian detected" — holds a pub- 
lic controversy with the Baptists at Barbican — his account of it 
to G. Fox—writes " The Invalidity of John Faldo's Vindica- 
tion" — also " A Return to J. Faldo's Reply" — also " A just Re- 
buke to one-and-twenty learned and reverend Divines"— ^enco- 
mium of Dr Moore on the latter — writes •' Wisdom justified of 
her Children," and " Urim and Thummira" — and against John 
Perrot — and " On the general Rule of Faith," and on " The pro- 

Josed comprehension"— also six letters — extract from that to 
ustice Flcning - p. 51. 

Chap. 10. A. 1674— -tries to stem the torrent of religious perse- 
cution by a letter to Justice Bowls — and to two other Justices 
and to the King — writes for the same purpose " A Treatise of 
Oaths" — also" England's present Interests considered" — 'con- 
tents of this work — also " The continued Cry of the Oppressed 
for Justice" short extracts from the latter — also a letter to the 
Senate of Embden — publishes •' Naked Trutli needs no Shift" — 
a Ives's sober Request proved false"-— and '• Libels no Proofs" 
—letter to G. Fox on the subject of his release - p. 58. 

Chap. 11. A. 1675 — continues at Rickmanswcjrth — converts manj 
— holds a public dispute there with Richard Baxter — corresponds 
with the latter — publishes "Saul smitten to t!ie Ground" — . 
writes to a Roman Catholic — arbitrates between Fenwick and 
Byllinge — two letters to the former . . - p, 65. 

Chap. 12. A. 1676 — writes " The Skirmisher defeated" — also to 
two Protestant ladies of quality in Germany — becomes a man- 
ager of proprietary concerns in New Jersey — divides it into 
East and West-^-draws up a Constitution, and invites settlers 
to the latter - - - - - - - p. 68. 

Chap. 13. A. 1677— continues his management of West New 
Jersey— appoints Commissioners to go there — sells a portion of 
the land— sends off three vessels — undertakes a religions visit 
to Holland and Germany — writes to the King of Poland from 
Amsterdam — his kind reception and employment at the Court 
of Herwerden — occurrences at Krisheim — Duyshurg— Mul- 
heim — Harlingen— Wonderwick — and other places -writes at 
Frankfort " A Letter to the Churches of Jesus throughout the 
World''— an«l at Rotterdam " A Call or Summons to Christen- 
23 



i76> CONTENTS. 

dom," and other tracts — disputes with Galenus Abrams— re- 
turns to England — holds a dispute with William Rogers at Bris- 
tol p. 71, 

Chap. 14. A. 1678 — continues his management of West New Jer- 
sev~sends two other vessels there — petitions Pailiament in be- 
half of the persecuted Quakers — is heard by a Committee of the 
Commons — ^^the two speeches before them— remarks upon these 
•—writes '' A brief Answer to a false and foolish Libel" — also 
" An Epistle to the Children of Light in this Generation" p. 84. 

Chap. 15. A. 1679 — continues his management of West New 
Jersey — writes " An Address to Protestants of all Persuasions" 
-—general contents of this work — writes a preface to the works of 
Samuel Fisher — also " England's great Interest in the Choice of 
a new Parliament" — assists Algernon Sidney in his election for 
Guildford — two of his letters to the latter — writes ^* One Project 
for the Good of England" — general contents of this work p. 91. 

Chap. 16. A. 1680 — continues his management of West New 
Jersey — writes a preface to an anonymous publication — also to 
the works of J. Pennington — petitions Charles the Second for 
letters oatcnt for a certain tract of land in America in lieu of the 
debt due by the Government to his father — his motives for so- 
liciting the same .--s---p. 101. 

Chap. 17. A. 1681 — becomes a proprietor of East New Jersey 
publishes " A brief Examination and State of Liberty spiritual" 
— writes "A Letter to the Friends of God in the City of Bristol" 
—obtains a grant of the tract solicited — substance of the Char- 
ter for the same named Pennsylvania by the King — his mod- 
est feelings at this name — publishes an account of Pennsylva- 
nia and the t^-rms of sale — draws up conditions — his great 
care of natives therein — draws up a Frame of Government — his 
great car-.; of liberty of conscience therein — extract of his letter 
to R. Turner — sends off three vessels with passengers — and with 
Commissieners — writes to the Indians by the latter— is elected 
a Fellow of the Royal Society — letter to R. Vickris p. 104. 

Chap. 18. A. 1682 — has a narrow escape from prison — assists R. 
Davies — his sickness on the death of his mother — letter writtem 
by him at that time — publishes his Frame of Government — ad- 
mirable preface thereto—substance of the said Frame and of the 
Laws— bars all future claim ui>on Pennsylvania by the Duke of 
York — obtains a fresh grant called the Territories — leaves a let- 
ter to his wife and children — embarks in the Downs— writes a 
farewell epistle from thence and a letter to S. Crisp — sails, and 
arrives at Newcastle- calls the first General Assembly at Up- 
land, then new named Chester— business done there — visits 
New York and Maryland—returns, and makes his Gi-eat Trea- 
ty with the Indians— goes to Pennsbury— fixes on a site for his 
new city— plan of it— calls it Philadelphia— divides the land in- 
to counties — lays out townships — two of his letters while so em- 
ployed — reserves a thousand acres for G. Fox— receives new 
reinforcements of settlers— gives them a plan for huts— amount 
of the latter— their way of living after their arrival— appoints 
Shsrifts to the dift'erent'^ counties— issuer writs to these fqr call- 



CONTENTflL. VPl 

ing the Assemblies in the spring - - - - p. 114. 

Chap. 19. A. 1683— members returned for the Province and 
Territories — listof those sent to tlie Assembly — meets hisCouni 
cil — and afterwards the Assembly — which sit twenty -two days 
— business done there — grants a new Charter — first judicial pro- 
ceedings -trial of Pickering and others — names of those of the 
first jury — great progress in the building of Philadelphia— and 
in agriculture by the settlers — their manner of living as describ- 
ed by R. Townsend — goes on a journey of discovery into the 
interior of Pennsylvania — sends the Natural History of it to 
" The Free Society of Traders"— copy of his Letter on that 
subject — fails in settling a dispute with the Lord Baltimore — 
sends his case to the Lords Committee of Plantations in Eng- 
land ---------p. 137. 

Chap. 20. A. 1684 — violent conduct of the Lord Baltimore — op~ 
poses it by lenient measures — receives accounts of fresh perse- 
cutions for religion in England- determines to repair thither to 
use his influence with the Court to stop them — in the mean time 
settles a system of discij. line for his own religious Society-~ 
holds conferences and makes treaties with the Indians — settles 
the dispute about the b:ink-lot3--and forwards the building 
of his city — number of houses and population — total population 
of the settlers — provides for the Government in his absence — 
letter from S. Crisp— embarks — Avrites a farewell epistle to his 
friends— arrives in England — writes to Margaret Fox- and to 
S.Crisp — contents of the above letters - - - p. 154. 

Chap. 21, A. 1685 — gives an account of tiie death of Charles the 
Second — is in great favour with James the Second — has frequent 
interviews with the King — endeavours to stop persecution — in- 
tercedes for Jolin Locke — bpcomes unpopular by his attendance 
at Court— called Papist and Jesuit — correspondence between 
liim and Tillotson on this subject — present at two public execu- 
tions — affairs of Pennsylvania— irregularities and abuses in his 
absence — writes over to correct them — Assembly impeach 
Moore and arrest Robinson — their letter to him on the sub- 
ject p. 162. 

Chap. 22. A. 1686 — cry of Papist and Jesuit continued — further 

correspondence between him and Tillotson on the subject 

writes " A further Account of Pennsylvania" — also "A De- 
fence of the Duke of Buckingham" — also ''' A Persuasive to 
Moderation" — contents of the latter — proclamation for religious 
indulgence follows — goes to Holland on a religious errand — but 
undertakes a commission from the King to the Prince of Orano-e 
— meets Scotch fugitives there — his services to Sir Robert 
Steuart — travels as a preacher in P'ngland — affairs of Pennsyl- 
vania— displeased with the conduct of the Assembly—and also 
with that of the Council — alters the Government by a Commis- 
sion — lodges the Executive in five persons—reinstates Moore 

copy of the Commission p. ifi. 

Chap. 23. A. 1 187'--carries up an Address of the Quakers to James 
the Second on his Declaration for Liberty of Conscience — his 



IfS CONTENTS. 

speech to the King — the King's answer — tmvels into different 
counties — preaches at Bristol fair- and at Chew under an oak 
—and at Chester, where t!ae King hears him — goes to Oxford — 
meets the King there, who interferes unjustly in the election of 
a President for Magdalen College — his noble reproof of the lat- 
ter — his interview with a Deputation from the College — writes 
*' Good Advice to the Church of England and Catholic and Pro- 
testant Dissenters" — also " The Great and Popular Objection 
against the Repeal of the Penal Laws stated and considered"— 
anair* of Pennsylvania -..,-=. p. 183> 



VOL. n. 



Chap. 1. A. 1688 — introduces Gilbert Latey to the King— be- 
comes very unpopular — reputed causes of it — beautiful letter 
written to him by Mr. Popple on this account— his answer to the 
same — is arrested (King William having come to the throne) 
and brought before the Lords of the Council— and examined— 
and made to give bail for his .appearance — affairs of Pennsyl- 
vania - - - - - - p. 3. 

OHAP. 2. A. 1689 — appears according t© his bail— -no witness be« 
ing found against him, is discharged — Toleration Act passes — • 
the great privileges it conferred — his Joy on the occasion— .the 
great share he had in bringing it to pass — affairs of Pennsyl- 
vania - - - - - - p. 18. 

CHAP. 3. A. 1690 — letter of thanks to a Friend — is arrested again 
on a charge of corresponding with James the Second — his open 
and manly defence before King William — is made to find bail 
— a))pears in Court, and is discharged — prepares for returning 
to Pennsylvania — is again arrested — tried — and acquitted — 
writes to the widow of George Fox on the death other husband — 
is on the point of sailing for Pennsylvania but accused by Ful- 
ler — constables sent to take him — the voyage stopped — goes in« 
to retirement — affairs of Pennsylvania - ' P- ^2. 

CHAP. 4. A. 1691 — continues in retirement — new proclamation 
for hia apprehension — Jjecomes more unpopular than ever— 'falls 
under the censure of some of his own Society — writes in con- 
sequence a general letter to the members of it — is visited in his 
retirement — message sent to him there by John Locke — ^writes 
a Preface to Barclay's Apology — affairs of Pennsylvania p. 28. 

©HAP. 5. A. 1692 — continues in retirement — writes "Just Meas- 
ures" — ^general contents of this work — also "A Key" whereby 
to know and distinguish the Religion of the Quakers — general 
contents of it—also " New Athenians no noble Bereans'' — 
affairs of Pennsylvania „ . -^ p. S§. 



CONTENTS. ITD 

OH AT. 6, A. 1693 — continues in retirement— is deprived of his 
Government by King William— his forlorn situation at this pe- 
riod — resolves upon returning to Pennsylvania — letter to that 
effect — ^but is prevented by embarrassed circumstances — writes 
" Fruits of Solitude"— preface and contents of the same — also 
" Essay towards the present and future State of Europe — analy- 
sis of the latter — letter to N. Blandford — is heard before King 
"William and his Council, and acquitted — death of his wife — 
her character — affairs of Pennsylvania - - - p. 35. 

CHAP. 7. A. 1694 — writes "An Account of the Rise and Progress 
of the Quakers" — general contents of this work— also *'A Visi- 
tation to the J»Jws" — extract from thence — publishes his " Jour- 
ney into Holland and Germany as performed in 1677" — is re- 
stored to his Government by King William — handsome manner 
of M'ording the Royal order for this purpose — travels in the 
■ministry — letter to John Gratton — affairs of Pennsylvania—* 
death and character of Thomas Lloyd - - - P* 48. 

«HAP. 8. A. 1695 — writes " A Reply to a pretended Answer to 
William Penn's Key"— delivers a paper to the House of Com- 
mons on the subject of making the Quaker's aifirmation equal to 
their oath— travels in tlie ministry— is present at a religious 
dispute at Melksham — preaches at Wells — some curious partic- 
ulars during his stay there — affairs of Pennsylvania. - p. 54 

CHAP. 9. A. 1696— marries a second time — loses his eldest son- 
writes an account of liis sayings and behaviour during his sick- 
ness, and of his character— writes also " Primitive Christiani- 
ty revived" — analysis of the work — also " More Work for 
G. Keith" — visits the Czar of Muscovy then in England— im- 
pression made upon the latter — affairs of Pennsylvania p. 58. 

CHAP, 10. \. 1697 — publishes " A Caution humbly offered about 
passing the Bill against Blasphemy" — Bill is dropped — affair! 
of Pennsylvania - - - - - p. 66 

CHAP. 11 A. 1698 — goes to Ireland as a minister of the Gospel 
— writes " the Quaker a Christian" — and " Gf.spel Truths as 
held hv the Quakers" — preaches at Dublin, Lambstown, Wex- 
ford, W^aterford, Clonmel, Cork, and many other places — has 
his horses seized at Ross— incident and interview with the Bish- 
op at Cashel — returns to Bristol— -writes " Gospel Truths de- 
fended against the Bishop of Cork's Exceptions"— goes to Lon- 
don to take leave of adventurers to Pennsylvania in the ship 
Providence — returns to Bristol — writes " Truth of God as pro- 
fessed by the people called Quakers" ... p. 68. 

CHAP. 12. A. 1699 — religious dispute at West Dereham between 
the Quakers and the Norfolk Clergy — writes a paper against 
I' A brief Discovery," the production of the latter — also " A 
just Censure of Francis Bugg's Address" — prepares for a 
voyage to America^ — draws up " Advice to his Children for 
their civil and religious Conduct" — also, on embarking, " A 
Letter to the People of God called Quakers, wherever scatter- 
ed or gathered" — arrives in the Delaware — incidents there— ^ 
yellow fever — proceeds to Philadelphia — visits in the country — 



189 FOKTENTS. 

anecdote related of him while at Merion— meets the Assembly- 
passes Bills against piracy and illicit trade — .extreme severity 
of the weather - - - - p. 79. 

CHAP. 13. A. 170Q-— proposes and carries in his own Monthly 
Meeting resolutions relative to Indians and Negro slaves— -re- 
moves obstructions and nuisances in the city— calls the Assem- 
bly — proceedings of the same— visits and receives Indians- 
travels in the ministry through the Province and Territories, 
and in the Jerseys and Marjhmd— anecdotes of him while on 
this exrursion— calls a new Assembly at Newcastle— substance 
of his speech to them— proceeflings of the same— their dissen- 
tions— those allayed by his wisdom and justice— particulars re- 
lative to their rules, &c. _ » - - p. 83. 
CHAP. 14. A. 1701" sets out for East Jersey to quell a riot there 
— extracts from a letter written on tiiat occasion — makes a trea- 
ty with the Susquehannah and other Indians — suggests a plan 
of trade with them, to secure them from imposition and to im- 
prove their morals — calls the Assembl}^ — their proceedings- 
issues an order to watch against invasion — renews a treaty with 
another tribe of Indians — account of it — being called to Eng- 
land, summons the Assembly again— its proceedings — several 
tribes of Indians come to take their leave of him— his reply to 
the same — signs a new Charter — constitutes and incorporates 
Philadelphia a city— appoints a Council of State—and a Deputy 
Governor— embarks for England — arrives there - - p. 86. 
CHAP. 15. A. 1702-3— carries up the address of the Quakers to 
Queen Anne — writes " Considerations upon the Bill against 
occasional Conformity"— also, " More Fruits of Solitude"--- 
also a preface to " Vindicife Veritatis — and another to "'Zion's 
Travellers comforted*' — affairs of Pennsylvania - - p. lOOi 
CHAP. 16. A. 1704-5-6-7-8— writes a preface to " The written 
Gospel-Labours of John Whitehead''— travels as a minister into 
the West of England— writes a General Letter to the Society 
—is Involved in a law-suit with the Executors of his Steward- 
obtains no redress in Chancery— obi i^>;ed in consequence to live 
within the Rules of the Fleet -affairs of Pennsylvania p. 102. 
CHAP. 17. A. 1709-10-11-12— is obliged to mortgage his Province 
—causes of this necessity— travels again in the ministry- 
writes a preface to the " Discourses of Bulstrode Whitelocke'* 
—constitution begins to break— removes to Rushcomb in Berk- 
shire— determines upon parting with his province— but is pre- 
vented by illness— writes a preface to the "Works of John 
Banks"— has three apoplectic fits— affairs of Pennsylvania 
' ^ p. 107, 
CHAP. 18. A. 1713-14-15-16-17-18— gradually declines-ac- 
count of him at this period— dies at Rushcomb— concourse of 
people at his funeral— malevolent reports concerning liim after 
his death— certificates of Simon Clement and Hannah Mitchell 
— short account of his will - - - " P* ^/.^* 
^HAP. 19. Some account of his person— of his manners and habits 



CONTENTS. 181 

— and of his private character - , - p. 123. 

CHAP. 20. Examination of the outcry against him of " Papist and 
Jesuit" — of the charges against him by Burnet — and of those 
contained in the State Papers of Nairne — and in the insinua- 
tions of Lord Lyttleton— and I3r. Franklin - - p- 129 

CHAP. 21. View of him as a Legislator upon Christian principles 
in opposition to those of the policy of the world — and first as it 
relates to the governed — his general maxims of Government- 
superiority of these over others as to the extension of morals- 
mechanism of the Government of Pennsylvania — reputed ex- 
cellence of it — one defect said to belong to it — but this no de- 
fect at the time — removed by him when it became so — hence the 
first trait in his character as a Christian legislator, namely, his 
readiness to alter the Constitution with time and circumstances 
— second trait to be seen in his law for universal Toleration— 
— reasons upon which it was founded— contrast between it and 
the opposite one under political legislators — both as to princi- 
ple and effect — this law the great cause of the rapid population 
of Pennsylvania — third trait to be seen in the abolition of the 
punishment of death, and in making the reformation of the 
offender an object of Legislative concern — comparison between 
this system and that of the sanguinary legislator of the world — 
noble effects of the former as witnessed in its improved state at 
the present day - - - _ . p. 143^ 

CHAP. 22. View of him as a Statesman upon Christian principles, 
as it relates to aliens or foreigners — first, as to Dutch and 
Swedes — secondly, as to the aborigines or Indians — his Chris- 
tian object in connecting himself with these — his Christian con- 
duct towards them — honourable and grateful result to him and 
his followers from the same — object and conduct of those to- 
wards the same who have proceeded upon the policy of the 
world — miserable result to the latter — peculiar reason of this 
result— thirdly, as to the Negroes— his Christian treatment of 
these — happy effects of the same— misery produced by those 
who have had any concern with them on the principle of the 
policy of the world - - - . p_ 154 

CHAP. 23. Recapitulation of the traits in the preceding chapters 
of his legislative character as a Christian— has exhibited himself 
besides as the Ruler of a kingdom without a soldier — and also 
without an oath— Great Treaty with the Indians never ratified 
by an oath and yet never broken — Indians made incursions in- 
to Pennsylvania in 1754, but never while the Quakers ruled— 
causes of these incursions — peace restored by the Quakers Fa- 
ther O'Leary's eulogium on the Government of William Penn— 
bappy condition of Pennsylvania under it — conclusion p. 169, 



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